Ballon d'Or - European Footballer of the Year 2005

Ronaldinho has been confirmed as the best player in Europe at the annual France Football Ballon d'Or awards in Paris, beating Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard came third in the poll with 142 points, Lampard was second on 148, and Barcelona star Ronaldinho was the winner with 225 points.

Carragher finished joint 20th with Cristiano Ronaldo, while Garcia was left out of top 20.

Ronaldinho: "Lampard and Gerrard are great players, they deserve to be rewarded in this way and it is a pleasure for me to see them play in The Premiership."

"It is great to see such talented footballers at a young age."

Top 10:
1. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) 225 points
2. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 148
3. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 142
4. Thierry Henry (Arsenal) 41
5. Andrei Shevchenko (Milan) 33
6. Paolo Maldini (Milan) 23
7. Adriano (Internazionale) 22
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus) 21
9. Kaka (Milan) 19
10. Samuel Eto¡¦o (Barcelona) & John Terry (Chelsea) 18

*Michael Owen was the last English winner, for his displays at Liverpool in 2001.*

View people's opinions about Ballon d'Or this year in General Football Forum, and there's also the whole top 20 list.

Luis Figo has backed Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to win the Ballon d'Or.

"I think they are two great English players. I've played against them in the European Cup. They are doing really well in their clubs and in the future they probably have the chance to win this award."