In 2003 he joined A.C. Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a world record fee of $89 million, smashing the previous record of Zidane, $75 million,[3] Kaká's record was later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo when he joined Real Madrid for a fee of $129 million. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the United Nations' World Food Programme.[4]
*Early life
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite was born in Brasília to Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite (a civil engineer) and Simone dos Santos (an elementary school teacher).[5] He had a financially secure upbringing that allowed him to focus on both school and football at the same time.[6] His younger brother Rodrigo (best known as Digão) and cousin Eduardo Delani are also professional footballers.When he was seven, Kaká's family moved to São Paulo.[7] His school had arranged him in a local youth club called "Alphaville," who qualified to the final in a local tournament.[8] There he was discovered by hometown club São Paulo FC, who offered an assignment.[9]
At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident,[10][11] but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.[11]
*Club career
São Paulo
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.[12]
Milan
Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004–05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko.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 the Scudetto 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 first Rossoneri 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 side Anderlecht.
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 the Rossoneri eliminate Celtic in the quarter-finals on a 1–0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals, despite Milan losing the first leg.
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.[15] He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008.[16]
Due to his contributions on and off the pitch, Time magazine named Kaká in the Time 100, a list of the world's 100 most influential people, on 2 May.[17] On 14 October, he cast his footprints into the Estádio do Maracanã's sidewalk of fame, in a section dedicated to the memory of the country's top players.[18] He won the honor again in 2009.[19]
BBC reported on 13 January 2009 that Manchester City made a bid for Kaká for over £100 million. Milan director Umberto Gandini replied that Milan would only discuss the matter if Kaká and Manchester City agreed to personal terms.[20] Kaká initially responded by telling reporters he wanted to "grow old" at Milan and dreamed of captaining the club one day, but later said, "If Milan want to sell me, I’ll sit down and talk. I can say that as long as the club don’t want to sell me, I'll definitely stay."[21] On 19 January, Silvio Berlusconi announced that Manchester City had officially ended their bid after a discussion between the clubs, and that Kaká would remain with Milan.[22] Milan supporters had protested outside the club headquarters earlier that evening, and later chanted outside Kaká's home, where he saluted them by flashing his jersey outside a window.[23]
Real Madrid
Kaká made his unofficial debut on 7 August 2009, in a 5–1 friendly victory against Toronto FC.[28] He scored his first goal for Madrid during a pre-season match on 19 August 2009, in a 5–0 victory against Borussia Dortmund.[29] Kaká later made his league debut on 29 August 2009 in a 3–2 win against Deportivo La Coruña.[30] He scored his first goal, a penalty kick, on 23 September, in a 2–0 against Villarreal.[31] On 5 August 2010, Real Madrid announced that Kaká had undergone successful surgery on a long-standing left knee injury and will face up to four months on the sidelines.[32] Kaká returned to training after a long lay-off and manager Jose Mourinho said that having Kaká back was like a new signing.[33][34]
After an eight-month absence, Kaká returned to play by entering as a substitute for Karim Benzema on the 77th minute of a 3–2 victory over Getafe on January 3, 2011. He said he was "(...) happy for playing a game again and for stepping onto a pitch."[35] His first league goal (and his first of the season) after his return from injury came with an assist from Cristiano Ronaldo on a 4–2 victory over Villareal on January 9.[36]
*International career
In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, where Brazil, competing 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 in Germany. 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.[38] 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.[39]
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.[40] After missing out on the Copa América, he returned to play in Brazil's friendly match against Algeria on 22 August 2007.
Kaká participated in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, marking his first international tournament since the 2006 World Cup. His only two goals came in Brazil's group stage opener against Egypt on 14 June, when he scored a goal in the fifth minute and then added a 90th-minute penalty in Brazil's 4–3 victory.[41] He received the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament at the Confederations Cup and was also named the Man of the Match in the final after helping Brazil to a 3-2 win against the United States.[42][43][44]
In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, during the 20 June match against Côte d'Ivoire, Kaká received a red card after receiving two yellow cards. The second card was given for an elbow in the direction of Abdul Kader Keïta. The Telegraph called the incident leading to the second yellow card "an innocuous off the-the-ball incident".[45] Kaká ended the tournament with three assists in total, and Brazil eventually ended up losing 2–1 to the Netherlands.
*Personal life
Kaká was sworn in as an Italian citizen on 12 February 2007.[49] He features prominently in Adidas advertising and also has a modeling contract with Armani, the latter preventing him from appearing in a photo collection alongside his Milan teammates that was published by Dolce & Gabbana in early 2007.
Raí, the former Brazilian and São Paulo FC captain, has always been the footballing role model of Kaká.[50][51]
Kaká's best friend is fellow Brazilian Marcelo Saragosa who plays as a midfielder for the team Chivas USA. They both served as best man at each other's wedding.[52]
Kaká is a follower of the evangelical Rebirth in Christ Church[53] and devout evangelical Christian. Kaká became engrossed in religion at the age of 12: "I learnt that it is faith that decides whether something will happen or not." He removed his jersey to reveal an "I Belong to Jesus" t-shirt and openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Brazil's 2002 World Cup, and Milan's 2004 Scudetto and 2007 Champions League triumphs. He also had the same phrase, along with "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots.[54] During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4–1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup final, he and several of his teammates wore t-shirts that read "Jesus Loves You" in various languages.
Though sharing a common goal, Kaká is not currently a formal member of the organization Atletas de Cristo ("Athletes of Christ").[55] In goal celebrations he usually points to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. Kaká's favourite music is gospel,[56] and his favourite book is the Bible.[57] Since November 2004, he has served as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations' World Food Programme, the youngest to do so at the time of his appointment.[4]
On August 2010, EA Sports announceed that Kaká has been chosen for the cover of FIFA 11.[58]
Kaká has a musical side to himself as he performed a song with his wife, Caroline, on her debut album. The song, entitled Presente de Deus, was written by Kaká himself for his wife and was resonated in the church during their wedding in 2005.[59]
On 8 December 2010 Kaká announced on his Twitter account that his wife Caroline, was pregnant with a baby girl.
*Nickname
His nickname is pronounced as it is spelled, with stress on the second syllable (
pronunciation (help·info)), and is a common term of endearment of "Ricardo" in Brazil. In Kaká's case, it was born from younger brother Digão calling him "Caca" due to his inability to pronounce "Ricardo" when they were young; it eventually evolved into Kaká.[54]
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