Brazil's Ronaldinho has completed a hat-trick of the top soccer awards

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- Ronaldinho completed a hat-trick of awards when he was named European Footballer of the Year in Paris on Monday ahead of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

The 25-year-old Brazilian forward won the vote by European soccer journalists organized by French soccer magazine France Football after guiding Barcelona to last season's league title.

Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year last December and was honored by fellow professionals when he won the inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year trophy in September.

The player's skill and vision are the pulse of Barcelona's exciting football. He was a prominent member of Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning team and is likely to be one of the main attractions at next year's World Cup finals in Germany.

Lampard was an inspirational member of Chelsea's Premier League-winning side while fellow England midfielder Gerrard was instrumental in Liverpool's surprise Champions League triumph.

Ronaldinho was the favorite even before he scored two wonder goals in Barcelona's 3-0 defeat of Real Madrid earlier this month.

The list of Ballon d'Or winners, starting with Stanley Matthews in 1956, features many exceptional players, among them Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini.

Several winners, including former Real Madrid favorite Alfredo di Stefano who collected the trophy in 1957 and 1959, were in Paris on Monday for the 50th anniversary of the award.

AC Milan's Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko, who won last year, was also present.

In everyone's thoughts was former Manchester United and Northern Ireland winger George Best, the 1968 winner, who died on Friday.

Voting:

1. Ronaldinho (Brazil/Barcelona) 225 points 2. Frank Lampard (England/Chelsea) 148 3. Steven Gerrard (England/Liverpool) 142 4. Thierry Henry (France/Arsenal) 41 5. Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine/AC Milan) 33 6. Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan) 23 7. Adriano (Brazil/Inter) 22 8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Juventus) 21 9. Kaka (Brazil/AC Milan) 19 10½ Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon/Barcelona) 18 10½ John Terry (England/Chelsea) 18 12. Juninho (Brazil/Lyon) 15 13. Claude Makelele (France/Chelsea) 8 14½ Michael Ballack (Germany/Bayern Munich) 7 14½ Petr Cech (Czech Republic/Chelsea) 7 14½ Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/Chelsea) 7 14½ Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina/Villarreal) 7 18. Zinedine Zidane (France/Real Madrid) 5 19. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus) 4 20½ Jamie Carragher (England/Liverpool) 3 20½ Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Manchester United) 3

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