There were few surprises last night when Kaka walked away with his very first player of the year award. Judging by his form in the world club championships there might be more to come. Fellow nominee Lionel Messi came second with Cristiano Ronaldo taking the final top three spot.

The Ceremony capped a golden list of awards for the magnificent Brazilian Kaka, collecting more points than the combined total of the other two nominees and more than double that of his closest challenger, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said after the ceremony here. He won 1,047 votes while Argentine Messi gained 504 and Portuguese Ronaldo picked up 426.

Brazilian great and arguably greatest player of all time, Pele was on hand to award his fellow countryman and was pretty accurate with his version of the way events unfolded this year

‘Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have played some great football this year but they are not yet the most prominent players in their national teams,’ Pele said.

‘Kaka has been playing at this level for Brazil for four years now, he helps out in midfield and he is also a great example off the pitch. He’s the complete player.’

Cristiano failed to shine on the big stage of what turned out to indeed be a Super Sunday. Question marks are growing about the youngsters ability to shine on the biggest stages. He however does have the tools to rectify that should he continue to grow as a player.

Lionel Messi was his usual quiet self, but that should sound as an even bigger warning to all challengers that the 20 year old prodigy will let all his football do the talking as he focuses on a new year and a fresh challenge. Despite being sidelined for up to five weeks after picking up a thigh strain during his sides clash against Valencia.

With so many great young talents coming through, Football is set to be an even brighter entity for many years to come and this particular writer is one happy person.