KakáFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaKaká  |
| Personal information |
| Full name | Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite |
| Date of birth | April 22, 1982 (1982-04-22) (age 27) |
| Place of birth | Brasília, Brazil |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder |
| Club information |
| Current club | Real Madrid |
| Number | 8 |
| Youth career |
| 1994–2000 | São Paulo |
| Senior career* |
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2003 | São Paulo | 59 | (23) |
| 2003–2009 | Milan | 193 | (70) |
| 2009– | Real Madrid | 20 | (7) |
| National team‡ |
| 2002– | Brazil | 73 | (26) |
|
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite born 22 April 1982), commonly known as
Kaká, is a Brazilian football midfielder who currently plays for Real Madrid C.F.
and the Brazilian national team. He started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club. By then, he also played tennis,
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 fifteen that he chose to focus on football. 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. 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.
Early life
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.
[3] His younger brother Rodrigo (known as
Digão), elder cousin
Eduardo Delani is also a professional footballer.
When he was seven, his family moved to
São Paulo.
[4] His school had arranged him in a local youth club called
"Alphaville," who qualified to the final in a local tournament.
[5] There he was discovered by hometown club
São Paulo FC, who offered an assignment.
[6]At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident,
[7] but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since
tithed his income to his church.
[8]Club career
São Paulo
Kaká began his career with São Paulo at the age of eight. He signed a contract at fifteen and led the São Paulo youth squad to
Copa de Juvenil glory. He 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, in which he scored two goals in two minutes 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.
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.
[10] 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
Scudetto and the
UEFA Super Cup.
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.
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.com visitors. 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.
[11]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.
[12] He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008.
[13]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.
[14] 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.
[15] He won the honor again in 2009.
[16]The
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.
[17] 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."[18] 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.
[19] 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.
[20]Real Madrid
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,
[21] two days after the player had left for international duty with Brazil.
[22] 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."[23] On 4 June, Galliani told
Gazzetta dello Sport that 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."[23] On 8 June, Milan and Real Madrid confirmed Kaká has moved to the
Bernabéu on a six-year deal.
[24]Kaká made his unofficial debut in a friendly against
Toronto FC, and scored his first goal for Madrid during a preseason match against
Borussia Dortmund, which Madrid won 5-0.
[25] He scored his first official goal for Real Madrid on week 5 against
Villareal from a penalty kick.
International career
Kaká was called up for the
2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, but the
Brazilians crashed out to
Ghana in the quarter-finals. Several months later, he made his debut for the senior Brazil squad in a friendly match against
Bolivia on 31 January 2002. He was part of the
2002 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but played only 25 minutes,
[26] all of which were in the first round match against
Costa Rica.
In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the
2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, 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 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.
[27] 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.
[28]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.
[29] 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.
[30] 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.
Personal life
Kaká with his wife Caroline
A 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.
[34] 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.
Kaká is a member of the organization
Atletas de Cristo ("Athletes of Christ").
[35] His goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. Kaká's favourite music is
gospel,
[36] and his favourite book is the
Bible.
[37] 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.
Kaká is a follower of the evangelical
Rebirth in Christ Church[38]. He married his childhood sweetheart Caroline Celico on 23 December 2005 at a Rebirth in Christ church in
São Paulo.
[39] Their first child, Luca Celico Leite, was born in São Paulo on 10 June 2008.
[40]Kaká was sworn in as an Italian citizen on 12 February 2007.
[41] 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 idol of Kaká.
[citation needed]Kaká's best friend is
Chivas USA midfielder and fellow Brazilian
Marcelo Saragosa. They both served as best man at each other's wedding.
Nickname
His nickname is pronounced as it is spelled, with stress on the second syllable, and is a common
term of endearment of "Ricardo" in Brazil. In Kaká's case, it was born from younger brother
Rodrigo calling him
"Caca" due to his inability to pronounce "Ricardo" when they were young; it eventually evolved into
Kaká.Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | Domestic
League | Domestic
Cups | Continental
Competitions1 | Other
Tournaments2 | Total |
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| São Paulo | 2001 | 27 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | - | - | 33 | 14 |
| 2002 | 22 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 22 | 9 |
| 2003 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 20 | 7 |
| Total | 59 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 0 | - | - | 75 | 30 |
| Milan | 2003–04 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 14 |
| 2004–05 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 9 |
| 2005–06 | 35 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | - | - | 49 | 19 |
| 2006–07 | 31 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 10 | - | - | 48 | 18 |
| 2007–08 | 30 | 15 | - | - | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 19 |
| 2008–09 | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 36 | 16 |
| Total | 193 | 70 | 10 | 0 | 63 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 270 | 95 |
| Real Madrid | 2009–10 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 27 | 8 |
| Total | 20 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 27 | 8 |
| Career Totals | 268 | 100 | 22 | 7 | 73 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 372 | 133 |
Statistics accurate as of 27 February 2010[43]1Continental competitions include the Copa Libertadores, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Cup2Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana, Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World CupInternational goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. | March 7, 2002 | Cuiabá, Brazil |  Iceland | 6–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 2. | July 19, 2003 | Miami, USA |  Colombia | 2–0 | Win | CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 |
| 3. | July 19, 2003 | Miami, USA | Colombia | 2–0 | Win | CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 |
| 4. | July 23, 2003 | Miami, USA |  United States | 2–1 | Win | CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 |
| 5. | September 7, 2003 | Barranquilla, Colombia | Colombia | 1–2 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2006 |
| 6. | October 11, 2003 | Curitiba, Brazil |  Uruguay | 3–3 | Draw | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2006 |
| 7. | April 28, 2004 | Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 1–4 | Win | Friendly |
| 8. | October 10, 2004 | Maracaibo, Venezuela |  Venezuela | 2–5 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2006 |
| 9. | October 10, 2004 | Maracaibo, Venezuela | Venezuela | 2–5 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2006 |
| 10. | March 27, 2005 | Goiânia, Brazil |  Peru | 1–0 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2006 |
| 11. | June 29, 2005 | Frankfurt, Germany |  Argentina | 4–1 | Win | FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 |
| 12. | November 10, 2005 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |  United Arab Emirates | 0–8 | Win | Friendly |
| 13. | June 4, 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland |  New Zealand | 4–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 14. | June 13, 2006 | Berlin, Germany |  Croatia | 1–0 | Win | FIFA World Cup 2006 |
| 15. | September 3, 2006 | London, England | Argentina | 3–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 16. | October 10, 2006 | Stockholm, Sweden |  Ecuador | 2–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 17. | November 15, 2006 | Basel, Switzerland |  Switzerland | 1–2 | Win | Friendly |
| 18. | March 24, 2007 | Göteborg, Sweden |  Chile | 4–0 | Win | Friendly |
| 19. | September 12, 2007 | Foxborough, USA |  Mexico | 3–1 | Win | Friendly |
| 20. | October 17, 2007 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Ecuador | 5–0 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2010 |
| 21. | October 17, 2007 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Ecuador | 5–0 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2010 |
| 22. | November 18, 2007 | Lima, Peru | Peru | 1–1 | Draw | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2010 |
| 23. | October 11, 2008 | San Cristobal, Venezuela | Venezuela | 4–0 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2010 |
| 24. | June 6, 2009 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Uruguay | 4–0 | Win | FIFA World Cup Qualification 2010 |
| 25. | June 15, 2009 | Bloemfontein, South Africa |  Egypt | 4–3 | Win | 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| 26. | June 15, 2009 | Bloemfontein, South Africa | Egypt | 4–3 | Win | 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup |
Honours
São PauloMilanInternational
Individual
