Kaka

Player Information

Full name: Ricardo (Kaká) Izecson dos Santos Leite
Date of birth: April 22, 1982
Birthplace: Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
Nationality: Brazilian
2nd nationality: Italian
EU passport: Yes
Height: 183 cms
Weight: 73 kgs

Club: Milan
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Forward [R, C]
Squad Number: 22
Contract expires: June 2013
Previous clubs: São Paulo > (€8.5m) Milan

International debut: January 2002, v Bolivia
International Caps: 37
International Goals: 12
World Cups: Korea/Japan 2002 (1st), Germany 2006

Awards

FIFA World Cup (2002)
FIFA Confederations Cup (2005)

UEFA Super Cup (2003, 2007)
UEFA Champions League (2007)
FIFA Club World Cup (2007)

Italian Serie A (2004)
Italian Super Cup (2004)

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Player of the Year (2002)
Italian Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year (2004, 2006)
UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder (2005)
UEFA Champions League Top Scorer (2007)
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (2007)
European Footballer of the Year (2007)
World Soccer Player of the Year (2007)
FIFA Club World Cup Best Player (2007)
FIFA World Player of the Year (2007)
Italian Serie A Footballer of the Year (2007)

Biography

1982
Born April 22 in Brasilia to Simone Cristina dos Santos Leite and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite. His background is relatively privileged, born into upper-middle class in Brasilia, raised in Sao Paulo.
2000
September: He suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture at the age of 18 as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and since tithed his income to his church.
2001
March 7: Made his comeback on the pitch, when he came in as a reserve-substitute in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo final match between São Paulo and Botafogo and scored two goals, among them the match-winner, in less than five minutes.
July: Member of the Brazilian team that reached the FIFA World Youth Championship quarterfinals in Argentina.
August 8: Scored on his Brasilerao debut, a 1-2 Sao Paulo defeat at Vitoria.
2002
January: Kaka made his debut for the Brazil national football team against Bolivia.
June: Part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but played only 19 minutes, all of which were in the first round match against Costa Rica. During the final against Germany, coach Luis Felipe Scolari was reportedly about to send Kaka on as a substitute, but he never made it into the game as the referee did not notice him waving on the sidelines to enter the pitch.
December: Collected 27 votes to finish fifth in the El Pais' South American Player of the Year award.
2003
June: AC Milan brought him aboard for $8.5 million, a fee described in hindsight as "peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi.
July: Kaka was the captain for the Gold Cup tournament, where Brazil finished as runner-up, as did Kaka with a second-best three goals. He was also named as one of the competition's top eleven players by position.
September 1: Made his Serie A debut in a 2-0 Milan win at A.C. Ancona.
2004
November: Appointed as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations' World Food Programme, the youngest to do so at the time of his appointment.
2005
May: Despite Milan losing the 2004-05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C. on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament, and also finished ninth, with 19 votes, in the running for the 2005 Ballon D'Or.
June 29: Scored in a 4-1 defeat of Argentina in the 2005 Confederations Cup final, with a powerful shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net.
2006
April 9: Scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo Verona. All three goals were scored in the second half.
April: Member of the AC Milan team that reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals, losing against FC Barcelona.
June 13: Brazil midfielder Kaka edged out several other worthy candidates for the Budweiser Man of the Match honours as the world champions opened their Germany 2006 campaign with a 1-0 win over Croatia.
August 14: Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon admitted that Kaka will not now arrive at the club this season.
August 23: Real Madrid and AC Milan officials meet on Milan to discuss a probable swap between Ronaldo and Kaka.
September 27: Kaka criticised coach Carlo Ancelotti's tactics in the 0-0 draw at Lille in the UEFA Champions League. "I prefer playing with the formation with two forwards. In the game against Lille, I was obliged to keep the ball a lot - and then some people will say I am selfish. With only one forward, when I'm marked, I must try always a personal shot. With two forwards, it's easier passing the ball to one of them. At this time, we were not able to score - even if we created a lot of opportunities," he said.
October 12: Included among the 30 nominees for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award.
October 17: Included among the 50 nominees for the European Footballer of the Year Award.
November 1: Kaka had a night to remember after scoring his first UEFA Champions League hat-trick in Milan's 4-1 victory against Anderlecht.
November 6: Included in the FIFPro Team of the Year.
2007
February 12: Kaka received his Italian passport.
May 12: Citing an exhaustive schedule of Serie A, Champions League and national team play, Kaka openly bowed out of the 2007 Copa América, which was won by Brazil. "I haven't had a break for three seasons. I won't have the form to achieve what is expected of me at an international level."
May 23: Won the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan after a 2-1 victory over Liverpool FC at the OACA Spyro Louis in Athens, Greece.
May 25: Named the Vodafone Fans' UUEFA Champions League Player of the Season after nearly 100,000 uefa.com users voted in the competition.
August 30: Kaka collected the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and UEFA Club Forward of the Year prizes.
August 31: Member of the AC Milan squad that came from behind to defeat Sevilla FC 3-1 in Monaco and claim the UEFA Super Cup for a record fifth time on a night which served as a fitting tribute to the memory of Antonio Puerta.
October 5: Kaka lifted the FIFPro's World Player of the Year title.
December 2: Voted the European Footballer of the Year, collecting the Ballon d'Or live on French television. Kaka told free-to-air channel TV TF1: "This award crowns an outstanding year for me. I thank God for this prize, which is the biggest any player can win, and also my wife and my parents. But to get a trophy like this, you also need to have a winning team around you, that's essential - so I'm grateful to Milan and to Brazil."
December 13: Named as World Player of the Year by the prestigious British magazine World Soccer. Kaka gained 52.8 per cent of the votes, making him only the second player in the 26-year history of the award to receive more than half those cast. The only other player to do so was Michel Platini in 1984.
December 16: Orchestrated Milan's FIFA Club World Cup victory, scoring his side's third goal as well as setting up two for Filippo Inzaghi as the rossoneri became the first European side to win the revamped tournament after they defeated Argentinian side Boca Juniors 4-2 in Yokohama, Japan.
December 17: Completed a virtual sweep of annual awards by winning FIFA's World Player of the Year. Kaka received 1,047 points, ahead of Messi with 504 and Cristiano Ronaldo with 426 in a vote by national team captains and managers.
2008
January 28: Voted Player of the Year for 2007 by his fellow professionals at Italy&39;s Oscar del Calcio.
February 28: Extended his contract with AC Milan, committing to the red devils until 2013.
April 20: Scored a hat-trick in the AC Milan's Serie A 5-1 win against Reggina Calcio.
October 27: Included in the FIFPro World XI Team of the Year.

FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

Kaka is a focused and aggressive attacking midfielder, with good ball skills and stamina, who can move into a striking role when required.
Kaka moved from Sao Paulo to AC Milan in 2003 after collecting the award for best player in the 2002 Brazilian championship and subsequently won the Serie A title in his first season in Italy.

He played in Brazil’s 2002 FIFA World Cup™ finals campaign, albeit not the Final, and scored five goals in their qualifiers for Germany 2006.

© 2001-2006 FIFA, All Rights Reserved

UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile

A tireless worker who is blessed with creativity, good passing skills and a fine shot, attacking midfield player Ricardo Izecson Santos Leite 'Kaká' moved to Italy in the summer of 2003 vowing to "combine Brazilian fantasy with the tactical discipline of European football".

National team
After representing Brazil at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, he enjoyed a memorable breakthrough year in 2002, making his international debut against Bolivia before playing for his country at the FIFA World Cup. Since then he starred in the Brazilian Under-23 side that lost the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup final to Mexico and appeared regularly in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. He was not selected for the 2004 Copa América but played the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany.

Club
Born in Brasilia in 1982, Kaká is a product of São Paulo FC, for whom he played socred 22 goals in 56 league games over three seasons. Completed an €8.5m move to European champions Milan in June 2003, after months of speculation. He signed a four-year contract.

2003: Excelled in his first season in Serie A, quickly establishing himself as regular and scoring ten times as Milan secured their 17th Scudetto. He was also an ever-present in their UEFA Champions League campaign.

2004/05: Missed only two league games, scoring seven goals as Milan finished runners-up to Juventus FC and played every Champions League match, scoring twice against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. In the final, his wonderful pass set up Hernán Crespo for his second goal and Milan's third, only for Liverpool FC to mount a stunning comeback and take the match to penalties despite Kaká converting his kick.

Did you know?
With his first touch of the game, Kaká scored Brazil's winning goal in their opening 2006 World Cup qualifier against Colombia.

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