Misplaced Pages

Kaká

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 80.184.44.208 (talk) at 10:05, 26 January 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 10:05, 26 January 2008 by 80.184.44.208 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other uses, see Kaká (disambiguation).
Kaká
Personal information
Full name Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder, Second Striker
Team information
Current team A.C. Milan
Number 22
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 18 2007

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (IPA: [xi'kaʁdu ˌizɛ'ksõ dusɐ̃tus lɛitʃi]; born April 22, 1982 in Brasília), better known as Kaká, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for A.C. Milan of the Italian Serie A. He was the recipient of the prestigious Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007.

Early life

Kaká was born to Simone Cristina dos Santos Leite and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite. He has a younger brother, Rodrigo (known as Digão), who has followed in Kaká's footsteps by playing football for Milan.

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.


National team

Kaká on the road with the national squad.

Kaká made his debut for Brazil in January 2002 against Bolivia. He was 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 Luiz Felipe Scolari was reportedly about to send Kaká 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.

In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the Gold Cup tournament, where Brazil finished as runner-up, as did Kaká with a second-best three goals. He was also named as one of the competition's top eleven players by position. On June 29, 2005, he 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. He finished in joint tenth place in the voting for the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award, and finished two spots higher the following year.

Kaká started in his first FIFA World Cup Finals in 2006, scoring his first and only goal in a 1-0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opening match. He was unable to keep up his momentum for the remainder of the tournament as Brazil were eliminated by France in the quarterfinals. On September 3, 2006, he scored again for Brazil, receiving the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick and taking the ball down three quarters of the field to score.

On May 12, 2007, citing an exhaustive schedule of Serie A, Champions League and national team play, Kaká 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." Brazil coach Dunga took the optimistic route, declaring that while he was disappointed about Kaká's decision, his absence would subsequently free up a roster spot for a lesser-used player. Kaká, however, did play 70 minutes of Brazil's 1–1 friendly draw with England on June 1, but only 30 in a goalless draw with Turkey on June 5.

Personal life and religion

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 Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph. Kaká previously sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 Scudetto celebration and after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, and had the same phrase, along with "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots. 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, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lúcio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages.

Kaká is a member of the organization Atletas de Cristo ("Athletes of Christ"). His goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God, and he is proud that he was a virgin when he married. His favorite music is gospel music, and his favorite book is the Bible. 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 was sworn in as an Italian citizen on February 12, 2007. He features prominently in Adidas advertising and also has a modeling contract with Armani, but the latter prevented him from appearing in a photo collection alongside his Milan teammates that was published by Dolce & Gabbana in early 2007. He married his childhood sweetheart Caroline Celico on 23 December 2005 at the evangelical Reborn in Christ Church in São Paulo, Brazil. Caroline is currently pregnant with their first child.

The Reborn in Christ Church, of which Kaká is a member, is currently under investigation in connection with its leaders, Estevam Hernandes Filho and Sonia Hernandes, who were sentenced to prison in August 2007 on money smuggling charges. Kaká, who has not been charged, was an annual donor to the church with contributions totaling nearly $1 million. He was sent a questionnaire by Brazilian authorities inquiring about connections with the leaders, but his spokesman denied that Kaká had actually received any such documents.

Nickname

His nickname is pronounced as it is spelled, with stress on the second syllable. It is a common term of endearment of "Ricardo" in Brazil. In Kaká's case, however, it was born from younger brother Rodrigo calling him "Caca" due to his inability to pronounce "Ricardo"; it eventually evolved into Kaká. He is occasionally called "Ricky Kaka" by the European media.

Career statistics

Club Season Domestic
League 		Domestic
Cups 		International Total
App G App G App G App G
AC Milan 2007-08 10 8 0 0 5 2 15 10
2006-07 31 8 2 0 15 10 48 18
2005-06 35 14 2 0 12 5 49 19
2004-05 36 7 2 0 14 2 52 9
2003-04 30 10 4 0 14 4 48 14
Total 133 41 10 0 57 23 200 63
São Paulo FC 2002-03 10 2 0 0 10 2
2001-02 22 9 0 0 22 9
2000-01 27 12 0 0 27 12
Total 59 23 0 0 0 0 59 23
Career Totals 192 64 10 0 56 22 259 86

Honors

Club and national team

Individual honors

Runner-up

Template:S-awardsTemplate:Succession box one to threeTemplate:Succession box one to two
Preceded bySamuel Eto'o UEFA Club Football Award Best Forward
2006-07 		Succeeded byIncumbent
Preceded byZlatan Ibrahimović Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year
(Shared with David Suazo)
2006 		Succeeded byIncumbent
Preceded byPavel Nedvěd Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year
2004 		Succeeded byZlatan Ibrahimović

References

  1. "Kaka able to see beyond dollar signs". United Nations. Retrieved December 1, 2004.
  2. Tired Kaká to skip Copa America - World Soccer News, 5/12/07
  3. "Kakà: stop al Brasile" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
  4. Brazil plays Turkey to 0-0 draw - foxsoccer.com, 6/5/07
  5. ^ Mitten, Andy. "The golden boy of a golden team". The Independent. Retrieved September 28, 2006.
  6. "Interview". Atletas de Cristo. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
  7. "Public Chat Session". RickyKaka.com. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
  8. Milan put their faith in Kaka - The Telegraph, 5/2/07
  9. Brazilian Kaká gets Italian citizenship - People's Daily Online, 2/13/07
  10. Celico Four Months Pregnant as of December 2007
  11. "Kaka quizzed over links with corrupt church". The Guardian. Retrieved January 14, 2008.

External links

Brazil squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup winners (5th title)
Brazil
Brazil squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup
Brazil
AC Milan – current squad


Template:Persondata

Categories: