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Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982 in Brasília), better known as Kaká (pron. IPA: [kaˈka']), is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazil and the Serie A club A.C. Milan.

Early life

Kaká was born in Brasília, Brazil on the 22nd of April, 1982 to Simone Cristina dos Santos Leite and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite. He has a younger brother, Rodrigo Ifrano dos Santos Leite, known as Digão, who has followed in Kaká's footsteps by playing football in Italy.

His nickname Kaká, from his native Portuguese, is pronounced as it is spelled, with the stress being on the second syllable as the accent signifies. It is a commonly used shortened form of "Ricardo" in Brazil,however, Kaká received his nickname from his little brother, Rodrigo, who could not pronounce the word "Ricardo" when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca" which was later changed to "Kaká".

In September, 2000, at the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture as a result of a pool accident. However, Kaká fully recovered from the incident. One year later Kaká made his comeback on the pitch, when he came in as a reserve-substitute in the Tornero Rio Final. His team was down by one goal when the coach decided to put on the reserve, Kaká with 14 minutes left. The commentators were upset and said that there was some possibility that the São Paulo coach was crazy, but after two minutes Kaká had scored two goals and taken his team to a victory. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.

Career

Club career

Kaká made his debut at São Paulo FC 12th January 2001 at the age of 18. In the first season, he scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, and 10 goals in 22 appearances in the following season. At the age of 17, while he was still at the youth squad, São Paulo was set to sell Kaká to Turkish 1st division side Gaziantepspor. The deal did not occur, however, because the manager of Gaziantepspor, Nurullah Sağlam, and the clubs board refused to pay a price of $1.5m for the 17 year old. After joining São Paulo FC senior squad, his performance attracted attention from European clubs.

He joined AC Milan in 2003 for US $8.5m, a fee described in hind-sight as "peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi. Within a month, he became a first team regular, and he has been a starter ever since. He debuted in Serie A in an away match against Ancona, which Milan won 2-0. He scored 10 goals in 30 appearances that season, winning the Italian Serie A Championship and the European Super Cup.

Kaká was an integral part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored 7 goals in 36 league appearances, and also won the Italian Super Cup with the club. Milan finished second to Juventus in the Serie A, and lost the UEFA Champions League final to Liverpool on penalty kicks. He was voted the best midfielder of the Champions League tournament. He also ended up in the ninth place in the 2005 Golden Ball poll, earning 19 votes.

On April 9, 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo Verona. All three goals were scored in the second half.

In 2006, Real Madrid showed an interest in signing the 24 year old star, but Milan refused to sell. Kaká signalled his intention to stay by signing a contract extension until 2011.

On November 1, 2006, AC Milan moved to within a point of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages as Kaká scored a hat-trick to help the team win 4-1 against RSC Anderlecht. This was his second hat-trick at Milan and his first hat-trick in European competitions.

In November 2006, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti made a statement that Kaká should win the golden ball that year.

In April 2007, a panel of experts set up by the Italian sports paper Gazzetta Dello Sport proclaimed Kaká as the world's best footballer. The same day, former AC Milan striker and current Chelsea striker, Andriy Shevchenko proclaimed Kaká as the best footballer in the world and suggested that he should win the most prestigious individual prize in football, the Ballon d'Or.

Manchester United's Manager Sir Alex Ferguson proclaimed Kaká as one of the two best players in the world, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kaká is currently the top scorer in the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League after scoring both Milan goals in the first leg of the semi-final against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Then scoring early on in the second leg against the same opposition.

International career

Kaká made his international debut in January 2002 at the age of 19 against Bolivia. He was a part of the national squad which won the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but did not see much action playing just 19 minutes of the first round match against Costa Rica. However it was planned that Kaká would come into the field in the final against Germany, but the referee didn't notice the young Kaká by the sidelines waving to enter the field.

In 2003, he was the captain for the Gold Cup tournament in the US and Mexico, leading Brazil to the second place and scoring key goals against Colombia, which placed him at second best goalscorer in the tournament with 3 goals and earned him a place in the tournament's BestXI. Later, he was in action at the 2005 Confederations Cup, with Kaká scoring in the Confederation Cup final win over Argentina. (During the postmatch celebration, he and several of his teammates sported T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" written in different languages.) He finished in joint tenth place in the voting for the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. In the 2005 competition he finished two places higher. He played during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, helping Brazil qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

2006 World Cup

In Brazil's first match, in Group F, Kaká scored a goal in the 44th minute against Croatia with a left-foot strike from 25 meters, leading Brazil to a 1-0 victory. The media regarded him as the only member of the "magic quintet" – Adriano, Kaká, Ronaldo, Robinho and Ronaldinho – who produced in the match. Brazil won the following two matches, advancing to the second round on top of their group. In the round of sixteen match against Ghana, Brazil won 3-0, with Kaká assisting Ronaldo in the goal on which the latter broke Gerd Müller's World Cup all-time goalscoring record. In the next match, Brazil were eliminated by France in the quarter finals.

Post-2006 World Cup

On 3 September 2006 he scored one of his most brilliant goals for the Brazilian team after assisting a goal to a new team addition, Elano. Kaká received the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick, and took the ball 3/4 of the field to score. On 15 November 2006, Kaká was chosen as Brazil captain for a friendly match against Switzerland in the absence of current Brazil captain Lucio due to injury.

Personal life

Kaká married Caroline Celico at the Reborn in Christ Church on December 23, 2005, two years after his move from São Paulo to Milan. Caroline was born on 26 July 1987 to Rosangela Lyra, the director of Dior in Brazil, and Celso Celico, an entrepreneur. She and Kaká met in 2001 while she was a student and he was playing for the São Paulo Football Club. The wedding was attended by about 600 people, including fellow Brazilian footballers Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano, Dida, Júlio Baptista and (then) Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline plans to earn a business degree from a university in Milan.

Kaká is a devout evangelical Christian

He is known to sport Christian gear from time to time: he has worn an "I Belong to Jesus" t-shirt on several occasions during matches, such as during the Brazilian team's celebration after their 2002 World Cup victory, and during Milan's Scudetto celebration in May 2004. He wears shoes customised with the same words written on them Every time he scores he points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks to God. He is proud that he was a virgin when he married.

Trivia
Kaká is of Portuguese descent.
In Italian, the language of his current club team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kakà. However, the player's shirt name is spelled KAKA' (with an apostrophe, rather than an accented 'A') for both his club in Milan and in the past for the Brazilian national team. In the World Cup 2006, the back of his shirt read KAKÁ.
Kaká is a member of the "Athletes of Christ" organization.
Since November 2004, Kaká has been an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme. He was the youngest ambassador at the time of his appointment
Kaká's favourite music is gospel music.
Kaká's motto in life is "I belong to Jesus" and "God is faithful", which he has stitched onto the tongue of his Adidas boots.
Kaká's favourite book is the Bible
In his freetime he likes to be in church, read the bible, and be with his family, particularly his younger brother Digão.
Adriano, Kakas teammate in the international side, said that he holds Kaka' as one of his soccer idols.
Kaká has many times been called "the new Pelé" or the "white Pelé"
Pelé once described him as having Brazilian technique combined with European strength.
On February 12, 2007, Kaká obtained Italian citizenship.