Kaká
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Milan A.C. | ||
- This article is about the Brazilian footballer. For the New Zealand bird see Kaka and for the Togolese folk dance, see kaka.
Kaká, real name Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, (born April 22, 1982 in Brasília) is a Brazilian football (soccer) player who currently plays for A.C. Milan in the Italian Serie A.
He got his nickname 'Kaká' because his little brother Rodrigo could not pronounce the word Ricardo when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother Caca which Ricardo later changed to Kaká.
He made his debut at São Paulo FC in 2001 while he was only 19 years old. He scored 12 goals in 27 appearences and a further 10 goals in 22 appearences the following season. He attracted attention from European clubs and it was Milan who won the race to sign him.
Kaká joined Milan in 2003 in a match against Ancona, which Milan won 2-0. In all, he scored 10 goals in 30 appearences that season, winning the Italian Serie A Championship and the European Super Cup.
He was an integral part of the team in 2004, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko in a five man midfield. He scored seven goals in 36 appearences, winning the Italian Super Cup. However, the team failed domestically, losing the Serie A title to Juventus, and losing the UEFA Champions League final to Liverpool on penalty kicks.
He was in Brazil's squad at the
, but did not see much action as Brazil took the World Championship. Later, he was also in action at the c. 2004 and the 2005 Confederations Cup, which were both won by Brazil. Next, he will be helping Brazil in qualifying for the
. Kaká has matured as a player and is currently considered one of the best Brazilian footballers. In 2004, Kaká was joint 10th in FIFA World Player of the Year award, and seems on target to better this in 2005. In 2005 Kaká was voted the best midfielder in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/2005.
His little brother, Rodrigo, followed his footsteps and is currently on loan to Serie B team Rimini, after having spent some time in the AC Milan youth squad.
Spelling
His nickname is spelled Kaká in his native Portuguese. The accent signifies that the stress is on the second syllable. In Italian, the language of his current team, the phonetic equivalent is written Kakà.
The player's shirt name is usually spelt KAKA', and Italian television coverage uses Kakà.