KAKA

LONDON (Reuters):

BRAZILIAN STRIKER Kaka of AC Milan was named as World Player of the Year by the prestigious British magazine World Soccer yesterday.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who also won the Young Player of the Year award for the second successive year, was second and Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United was third.

Kaka, 25, who helped AC Milan win the Champions League title in May, won the Ballon D'Or, or European Footballer of the Year award, this month organised by France Football magazine.

In that poll, Cristiano Ronaldo, who also plays for Portu-gal, was second and Argentine international Messi was third.

Poll contributors

Readers in 48 countries contributed to the World Soccer poll and Kaka gained 52.8 per cent of the votes, making him only the second player in the 26-year history of the award to receive more than half those cast. The only other player to do so was France's Michel Platini in 1984.

Alex Ferguson of Manchester United was voted Manager of the Year for a record third time after United won the Premier League title for the first time since 2003. Juande Ramos, who won five trophies in 15 months at Sevilla and is now the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, was second and Milan's Carlo Ancelotti third.

Iraq won the team award for their victory in the Asian Cup.

Kaka is also expected to be named FIFA's World Player of the Year at the annual gala staged by world soccer's governing body next week.