To be here with all those great players applauding me is a dream come true Ballon D'Or winner Ronaldinho

The 25-year-old was favourite to claim the Ballon D'Or, having already won the 2004 Fifa World Player of the Year and the inaugural FIFpro award.

The Ballon D'Or is widely accepted to be the highest accolade available to a player plying his trade in Europe.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard came second, while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard finished third.

Arsenal striker Thierry Henry was fourth in the voting, followed by AC Milan and Ukraine forward Andriy Shevchenko, who won last year.

"To be here with all those great players applauding me is a dream come true," said Ronaldinho after receiving the golden ball trophy at a ceremony in Paris attended by several former winners.

"This gives me motivation to keep working and try to emulate them.

2005 BALLON D'OR RESULTS 1. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) 2. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 3. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 4. Thierry Henry (Arsenal) 5. Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan) 6. Paolo Maldini (AC Milan) 7. Adriano (Inter Milan) 8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus) 9. Kaka (AC Milan) 10= Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) 10= John Terry (Chelsea)

"I have the chance to do for a living what I like the most in life, and that's playing football. I can make people happy and enjoy myself at the same time."

Ronaldinho was instrumental in helping Barcelona to clinch their first Primera Liga title since 1999 last season, scoring nine goals and providing many more.

His form this season seems to be even more impressive with another great goal in Sunday's win over Racing Santander seeing him match last year's entire league haul after just 12 games.

He even earned a standing ovation from members of the Bernabeu crowd in Barcelona's 3-0 win at bitter rivals Real Madrid little over a week ago - an honour only previously bestowed on a Barca player when Argentina legend Diego Maradona played there in the 1980s.

He has also been a key figure for Brazil, helping the world champions top the South American qualifying group.

Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the award for performances at Barcelona, after Ronaldo in 1997 and Rivaldo in 1999.

Ronaldo, who also won in 2002, had left the Nou Camp for Inter Milan when he picked up his first award.

The Ballon D'Or is voted for by European football journalists selected by French magazine France Football.

The award celebrated its 50th anniversary in Paris on Monday night and was first won by Stanley Matthews while he was at Blackpool in 1956.

Manchester United trio Denis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best all won the prize, respectively in 1964, 1966 and 1968.

Kevin Keegan won in 1978 and 1979 and Michael Owen was the last English winner, for his displays at Liverpool in 2001.

Previous winners of the Ballon D'Or: