About Kaká
Ricardo Izecson do Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaká (due to the way his brother mispronounced his name when he was a child), is an attacking midfielder of AC Milan in Serie A, and of the Brazilian National Team. Kaka is considered one of the three best current players worldwide, and in 2007 he was voted by journalists and coaches as the best (he won the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World player). Though people sometimes think he is a striker because he scores so much, Kaka is an attacking midfielder and he likes to start his action far from the goal, using his lightning sprint and his technical skills to shoot or give great passes to the strikers.
Kaka is married to Caroline Celico, and he is a member of a Brazilian church called “Renascer em Cristo”. In 2007, he got the Italian passport, and this increased some rumours about his possible transfer to Real Madrid, that has always been denied in public by Kaká himself. His brother Digao plays with him at AC Milan.
Kaka's Background
Born in Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil on April 22nd 1982, Kaká moved to Sao Paulo when he was a child and joined the Sao Paulo FC Youth Academy when he was 8. Seven years after he joined the “Tricolour”, he signed his first contract as a professional player. His debut was really exciting; he scored two goals in two minutes to Botafogo, giving Sao Paulo the Rio-Sao Paulo Cup. This did not prevent him from criticism but his coach, Oswaldo, was very confident in its strengths because he knew of his accident while diving in a water theme park. It was March 2001, during that year Kaká played also FIFA Under 20 World Cup. After that, he had to work hard, but at the end nobody had a doubt: a new star was born.
Club Football
Sao Paulo FC 2001: Kaká's first year at the Sao Paulo first team, after he took part to the Youth Sao Paulo Cup, without playing. He suffered some criticism, “Nice to see him playing, but he cannot play important games”. One day his coach Oswaldo, replaced him on minutes 38, and he left the field crying. Nobody believed in him, except his coach. And he was right: 27 games and 12 goals in his first professional season.
2002: the season where Kaká made his name, and caught many European clubs attention. He scored 10 goals in 22 appearances, and made his debut in Brazil National Team.
AC Milan
2003/2004: Kaká joined AC Milan, while the fans where dubious: “We already have Rivaldo and Rui Costa, maybe we needed a defender”, they said. It didn't take much for Kaká to become an idol: two assists to Shevchenko in hid debut in Serie A, and his first goal in a derby won 2-0 over FC Internazionale. At the end of the season, AC Milan won the Serie A title, and Kaká was awarded with the “Oscar del Calcio” as Serie A footballer of the year.
2004/05: the season started with the Italian Super Cup, where Kaká gave his contribution to AC Milan win over SS Lazio. The first part of the season was not Kaka’s best, but he came out in the second part with some great games, especially in Champions League, where AC Milan qualified to the Final in Istanbul: Kaká played a great first half, like the rest of the team, but he could not avoid Liverpool's draw. The English team won on penalty shootouts, though Kaká scored his.
2005/06: during his third season at AC Milan, Ricardo Kaká played at his highest levels, though the club didn't win anything. He scored his first Hat-trick in Serie A in AC Milan win over Chievo. Despite no wins in season, he got the award as “Serie A Foreign Player of the Year”, ex-aequo with David Suazo of Cagliari.
2006/07: this was not a normal season, this was Kaká's season. The Brazilian did not play a great Serie A championship, but he did the contrary Sao Paulo FC fans though at the beginning of his career: he was decisive in the most important games, especially in UEFA Champions League. We can say that 90% of AC Milan wins over Bayern and Manchester United were due to Kaká's great plays. Though he did not score during the final, he won his first Champions League. Everybody endorsed him as World's best player, so the awards started getting into his hands.
Real Madrid
Kaka recently completed his move to the Los Blancos for a thumping transfer fee of ₤68.5 on 3 June, 2009 which is currently the third highest transfer in football history ever. He is the first of the mojor signings of club president Florentino Perez who is looking to reestablish the Galacticos era.
International Football
Brazil Kaká made his debut with Brazil National Team on January 31st, 2002, in a 6-0 win over Bolivia. At that time, the 20 year old Midfielder was considered a substitute by coach Felipe Scolari. He scored his first goal in Cuiabá, in his second appearance, in Brazil win to Iceland.
World Cup 2002: Kaká has in his awards list the 2002 World Cup, but he just played 18 minutes in Brazil-Costa Rica, final game in the Groups stage, with the “Seleçao” already qualified to the Last 16.
In 2003, Kaká played an official competition, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where Brazil finished as runner-up. These appearances and goals do not appear in official stats, as that was the U-23 Brazil National Team. In 2003, Kaká became the mainstay of the team, playing the 2006 World Cup Qualifying and the Confederation Cup in 2005. Brazil won that competition, and Kaká scored in the final that the Brazilian won over Argentina 4-1.
World Cup 2006: Brazil was a favourite, and not only because they were title holders. They had the “Fab Four” in attack, Kaká, Adriano, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Unfortunately, Brazil had a big disappointment, as they were knocked-out by France in quarter-finals. The “Fab Four” failed, just Kaká played well. He also scored a goal to Croatia, during the Group Stage.
2007: Kaká wrote a letter to the Brazilian Football Associations, where he wrote he needed some rest after three endless seasons. He did not play the Copa America that Brazil won, but he was capped for some friendlies in the US and then he played first four games for the South-American qualifying round for 2010 World Cup. He scored two goals in Brazil win 5-0 over Ecuador, and a goal to Peru. Kaká is the present and the future of the National Team, though he is not captain, he is considered a leader by his teammates.
2009: Was named the most valuable player in brazil's successfull Confederations Cup campaign. He was also the Man of the Match in the final against USA.
International Goals
Awards and Honors
Sao Paulo FC
- Rio-Sao Paulo Cup: 2001
- Sao Paulo Championship: 2004
AC Milan
- UEFA SuperCup: 2003, 2007
- UEFA Champions League: 2006/07
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2007
- Intercontinental Cup 2003: runner-up
- UEFA Champions League 2004/05: runner up
- Scudetto Serie A 2003/04
Brazil National Team
- FIFA World Cup: 2002
- Confederations Cup: 2005
- CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003: runner-up
- Confederations Cup: 2009
Personal Awards
*2007 winners to be declared on Jan 31st 2008.
Career Statistics
M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists
*7 seasons considering 2003 together with 2003-2004
Personal Info
Kaká is very religious; he is a member of the Evangelic Christian Church “Renascer Em Cristo”. Some rumours say that he gives to this church 10% of his salary he earns at AC Milan, about 1 Million Euro. In 2007, the Renascer founders Estevam e Sonia Hernandes have been arrested in Miami as they tried to smuggle $60,000 USD, and they have been blamed for taking the money of the donations for their wealth. Kaká keeps on defending them, and probably will have to go to Brazil to be interrogated as a witness about this case. The Hernandes' celebrated Kakás' wedding. He has said when he retires he might become a priest. At the beginning of 2008, a perfect replica of Kaká has been portrayed in a Brazilian Gay Magazine (G Magazine) cover, and Kaká has announced he will initiate a lawsuit against the magazine.
Kaka's Wife
Caroline was married to Kaká on December 23rd, 2005 in Sao Paolo in front of 600 guests. At that time she was 18. In November 2007 she confirmed, in an interview with magazine “Chi”, that she will give birth to a child in April. In December 2007, she managed the AC Milan Christmas Gala.
Kakás' first child "Luca Celico Leite" was born on the 10th of June 2008, in São Paulo.
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