Kaka Is Going to Need a New Mantelpiece

Ricky Kaka can’t open his front door for all the awards piling up on his doorstep. He already has the Ballon d’Or and is expected to pick up the FIFA World Player of the Year award next week. Today he picked up yet another award when he was voted Player of the Year by readers of World Soccer magazine. Kaka took 52.8% of the vote to beat Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (again.) That apparently makes him only the second player in the history of the award to get more than 50% of the votes (Platini did it back in 1984.)

If you’ve never read World Soccer then it comes highly recommended. It’s based in Britain but read globally, so according to World Soccer the votes came from 48 different countries. Interesting that a player who had such an indifferent Serie A season is being showered with so many awards, though as has been noted elsewhere, it was Kaka’s brilliant Champions League performances for AC Milan that caught everyone’s attention.

Leo Messi can again console himself with a junior award, being voted Young Player of the Year ahead of Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo. Alex Ferguson picked up the Manager of the Year award after leading Manchester United to Premier League glory. The team award was less predictable, with readers narrowly voting for surprise Asian Cup winners Iraq ahead of Kaka’s Champions League winning Milan side.

Complete results below:

WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR % of votes
1 Kaka (Milan & Brazil) 52.8
2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) 17.6
3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United & Portugal) 16.0
4 Didier Drogba (Chelsea & Ivory Coast) 4.4
5 Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors/Villarreal & Argentina) 1.2
6 Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal & Spain) 0.8
7 Francesco Totti (Roma) 0.7
8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Internazionale & Sweden) 0.6
9 Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid & Holland) 0.5
10 Ronaldinho (Barcelona & Brazil) 0.4
Others 5.0

WORLD MANAGER OF THE YEAR
1 Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) 26.4
2 Juande Ramos (Sevilla/Tottenham) 25.6
3 Carlo Ancelotti (Milan) 14.8
4 Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) 8.4
5 Roberto Mancini (Internazionale) 6.5
6 Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) 5.2
7 Jorvan Vieira (Iraq) 4.2
8 Alex McLeish (Scotland) 3.1
9 Fabio Capello (Real Madrid) 1.2
10 Rafa Benitez (Liverpool) 0.5
Others 4.1

WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR
1 Iraq 22.2
2 Milan 21.5
3 Sevilla 16.6
4 Manchester United 10.5
5 Boca Juniors 9.1
6 Brazil 6.8
7 Argentina 5.2
8 Real Madrid 1.1
9 Scotland 1.0
10 Barcelona 0.8
Others 5.2

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR
1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) 33.6
2 Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal & Spain) 22.8
3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United & Portugal) 14.8
4 Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid & Argentina) 10.4
5 Giovani dos Santos (Barcelona & Mexico) 6.3
6 Alexandre Pato (Internacional/Milan & Brazil) 4.2
7 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United & England) 2.1
8 Alan Hutton (Rangers & Scotland) 1.2
9 Robinho (Real Madrid & Brazil) 0.6
10 Anderson (Porto/Manchester United & Brazil) 0.4
Others 3.6

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Category: Champions League, Serie A, World Football