Kaká

Kaká (BRAZIL AND REALMADRID CAPTAIN)

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite:

a Brazilian football midfielder who currently plays for Real Madrid^[1] and the Brazilian national team. He is widely considered as one of the best footballers of his generation^[2], often drawing comparisons in style and ability to other great footballers as Michel Platini, Sócrates, Zico, andPelé. His footballing style is unique as he has the technique of a Brazilian and the physical qualities of a European.^[3] Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight when he began playing for a local club called "Alphaville". By then, he also playedtennis and it was not until he moved on to São Paulo FC and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 15 that he chose to focus on football. He was the recipient of both the Ballon d'Orand FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. Besides his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is also famous for his humanitarian works and work against poverty. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest Ambassador of the UNICEFfood program. Having coming back from an almost paralyzing accident in 2001 at the age of 18, Kaká attributes his recovery to God.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite was born in Brasília to Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite (a civil engineer) and Simone Cristina Santos Leite.^{[citation needed]} He had a financially-secure upbringing that allowed him to focus on both school and football at the same time.^[4] His younger brother Rodrigo (known as Digão) is also a professional footballer.

When he was seven, his family moved to São Paulo.^[5] His school had arranged him in a local youth club called "Alphaville," who qualified to the final in a local tournament.^[6] There he was discovered by hometown club São Paulo FC, who offered an assignment.^[7]

At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident,^[8] but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his Church

São Paulo

Kaká began his career with grassroots club São Paulo FC at the age of eight. He signed a contract at 15 and led the São Paulo youth squad to Copa de Juvenil glory. Kaká made his senior side debut in January 2001 and scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, in addition to leading São Paulo to its first and only Torneio Rio-São Paulo championship where he scored two goals in two minutes in his first team debut as a substitute against Botafogo in the final, which São Paulo won 2–1. He scored 10 goals in 22 matches the following season and by this time his performance was soon attracting attention from European clubs. Kaká made a total of 58 appearances for São Paulo, scoring 23 times.^[10]

Milan

Kaká and Brazilian President Lula.

The steady European interest in Kaká culminated in his signing with Italian club AC Milan in 2003 for a fee of €8.5 million, described in retrospect as"peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi.^[11] Within a month, he cracked the starting lineup, and his Serie A debut was in a 2–0 win over Ancona. He scored 10 goals in 30 appearances that season, as Milan won the Scudettoand the UEFA Super Cup. Kaká also finished his first season with an average game-score of 7.69 per game, ahead of Golden ball winner Pavel Nedvěd, who had a 7.30 score. In comparison, other great playmakers of world football recorded considerably lower ratings during their debut seasons, such as Diego Maradona (6.93), Falcão (6.79), Zico (6.74), andMichel Platini (6.48).^[3]

Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004–05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored seven goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up in theScudetto race. Despite Milan losing the 2004–05 Champions League final to Liverpool on penalties, he was nonetheless was voted the best midfielder of the tournament.

2005–06 saw Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic competition. On 9 April 2006, he scored his firstRossoneri hat-trick against Chievo; all three goals were scored in the second half. The following season, he scored his first Champions League hat-trick in a 4–1 group stage win over the Belgian sideAnderlecht.

Andriy Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea for the 2006–07 season allowed Kaká to become the focal point of Milan's offense as he alternated between the midfield and striker positions. He finished as the top scorer in the 2006–07 Champions League campaign with ten goals. One of them helped theRossoneri eliminate Celtic in the quarter-finals on a 1–0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal forManchester United in the semi-finals, despite Milan losing the first leg.

Kaká added the Champions League title to his trophy case for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool on 23 May 2007. Though he went scoreless, he won a free kick that led to the first of Filippo Inzaghi's two goals, and provided the assist for the second. For his stellar play throughout the competition, he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.comvisitors. On 30 August, Kaká was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006–07 Champions League season and UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.^[12]

He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1–1 home draw with Catania on 30 September, and on 5 October, he was named the 2006–07 FIFPro World Player of the Year. On 2 December 2007, Kaká became the eighth Milan player to win the Ballon d'Or, as he finished with a decisive 444 votes, long ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo.^[13] He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008.

Real Madrid

Kaka, Pepe and Ronaldo inToronto, Ontario (2009)

On 3 June 2009, Football Italia reported that newly-elected Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez had offered Milan a ₤68.5 million deal for Kaká,^[22] two days after the player had left for international duty with Brazil.^[23] Milan vice president Adriano Galliani did not deny the reports, and confirmed that he and Kaká's father, Bosco Leite, had traveled to Mexico to meet with La Volpe. "We had lunch and spoke about Kaká. I don't deny it. Negotiations exist, but a deal has yet to be done."^[24] On 4 June, Galliani told Gazzetta dello Sportthat financial reasons were his motive for the talks with La Volpe."We cannot allow [Milan] to lose €70 million [...] The reasons behind Kaká's departure would be economic."^[24] On 8 June, Milan and Real Madrid confirmed Kaká has moved to the Bernabéu on a six-year deal.^[25]

Kaká made his unofficial debut in a friendly against Toronto FC. He scored his first goal for Real Madridin the pre-season from a penalty kick against Borussia Dortmund, and Real Madrid won the game 5–0.^[26]

Kaká was called up for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, but theBrazilians crashed out to Ghana in the quarter-finals. Several months later, he made his debut for the senior Brazil squad in a friendly match againstBolivia on 31 January 2002. He was part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but played only 25 minutes,^[27] all of which were in the first round match against Costa Rica.

In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cuptournament, where Brazil, competing as with their under-23 team, finished as runner-up to Mexico. He scored three goals during the tournament. He was included in Brazil's squad for 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup inGermany. He appeared in all five matches and scored one goal in a 4–1 win over Argentina in the final.

Kaká started in his first FIFA World Cup finals in 2006 and scored his first and only goal of the tournament in Brazil's 1–0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opener, for which he was named Man of the Match.^[28] He was unable to keep up the momentum for the remainder of the tournament, as Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals. In a friendly against rivals Argentina on 3 September 2006, after entering as a substitute, he received the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick and outran Lionel Messi while taking the ball down three quarters of the field to score.^[29]

On 12 May 2007, citing an exhaustive schedule of Serie A, Champions League, and national team play, Kaká bowed out of the 2007 Copa América, which Brazil won.^[30] After missing out on the Copa América, he returned to play in Brazil's friendly match against Algeria on 22 August 2007.