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.
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.
Kaká
began his club career with São Paulo at the age of eight. He signed a
contract at 15 and led the SPFC youth squad to Copa de Juvenil glory.
Kaká 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. He scored 10 in 22 matches the
following season, and by this time his performance was soon attracting
attention from European clubs.
AC
Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard
in 2003 for $8.5 million, a fee described in hindsight as "peanuts" by
club owner Silvio Berlusconi.Within a month, he cracked the starting
lineup, and has remained there since. His Serie A debut was in a 2–0
Milan win at A.C. Ancona. He scored 10 goals in 30 appearances that
season, as Milan won the Scudetto and the European 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 7
goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up to
Juventus. 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.
The 2005–06 season saw
Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competition. On
April 9, 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo
Verona. All three goals were scored in the second half. Seven months
later, he scored his first Champions League hat-trick in a 4–1 group
stage win over RSC Anderlecht. The football world was beginning to take
notice of a superstar in the making. Following Rui Costa's departure to
Benfica at the end of the season, and despite the insistence of many
Milan fans, Kaká turned down the chance to switch from his number 22 to
the now-vacant number 10, a number typically associated with world-class
playmakers. (The number was eventually claimed by teammate Clarence
Seedorf.)
Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC 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 CL campaign with ten goals, which proved a
catalyst in steering Milan back to European success. One of them helped
the Rossoneri beat Celtic FC 1–0 after extra time in the quarterfinals
on a 1–0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United
in the semifinals despite Milan losing the first leg. Following the
convincing 3–0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked
out the English champions, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
declared that Kaka was one of the two best players in the world,
alongside his charge Cristiano Ronaldo.The previous month, a panel of
experts set up by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed
Kaká as the world's best footballer. Shevchenko also included his
endorsement, while suggesting that Kaká deserved to win the Ballon D'Or.
Kaká
added the Champions League title to his trophy case for the first time
when Milan defeated Liverpool F.C. 2–1 in Athens on May 23, 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. In
June 2007, German football publication Kicker named him the world's best
player, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho finishing second and
third, respectively, while he was also given this honor by UK
publication The Times. On August 30, 2007, Kaká was named by UEFA as
both the top forward of the 2006–07 CL season and Club Footballer of the
Year.
He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1–1 home
draw with Calcio Catania on September 30, 2007, and on October 5, he was
named the 2006–07 FIFPro World Player of the Year.
On December
2, 2007, Kaká was officially announced as the European Footballer of the
Year, becoming the eighth Milan player in history to receive the honor.
He finished with a decisive 444 votes, far ahead of runner-up Cristiano
Ronaldo. Upon accepting the award in Paris, he said, "It was an
exceptional year and the Ballon D'or crowns an extraordinary 2007...I
want to thank God who allowed me to be here today. I thank my wife, my
parents and Milan, the team that allowed me to win. I also thank my
teammates, both at Milan and Brazil, and all of the fans."
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.
