KakáBrazilian athlete Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite

born April 22, 1982, Brasília, Braz.

In January 2008 Brazilian-born association football (soccer) player Kaká, AC Milan’s spectacular playmaking midfielder, was voted Player of the Year by the Italian players’ association. It crowned an amazing year for Kaká, who earned a Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) Champions League title when AC Milan defeated Liverpool, Eng., in the final on May 23, 2007, and secured more than a dozen personal awards, including being selected 2007 European Player of the Year and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Player of the Year.

Kaká owed his universally accepted nickname to his younger brother Rodrigo, who as a child could not pronounce Ricardo and could manage only “Caca.” Kaká was seven when the family moved from Cuiabá to São Paulo. A keen football enthusiast, he was taken on by the São Paulo Football Club the following year. At age 15 he was given a contract, but his progress was interrupted three years later by a serious spinal injury (sustained in a swimming accident), which threatened his career. He recovered, however, and made his first-team debut in January 2001. That year he scored 12 goals in 27 matches as an attacking midfield player. Within a year he had made his bow for the Brazilian national team against Bolivia and had been named to Brazil’s 2002 World Cup squad.

Kaká’s growing exposure on the world stage prompted interest from leading European clubs, and in August 2003 AC Milan paid $8.5 million for his signature. He made his first appearance in Italy the next month in a 2–0 win over Ancona. Kaká was equally adept at initiating and finishing attacks, and his forceful all-around skills developed with Milan, where his teammates gave him another nickname—Ricky. (In 2004 his brother Rodrigo joined him at AC Milan.) Kaká finished eighth and seventh, respectively, in balloting for FIFA Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006 before winning almost every available honour in 2007.

With 59 international appearances and 22 goals for Brazil, in addition to 109 goals in 309 domestic games in Brazil and Italy, Kaká was the highest-paid footballer in the world, with an annual income from the game alone amounting to €8 million (about $12 million) and extensive corporate sponsorship deals. Although his contract with AC Milan lasted until 2011, he remained one of the most sought-after talents in football. In addition to his unselfish performances on the field, Kaká was known as a very private man, a devoted husband, and a devout evangelical Christian with strong moral beliefs. In November 2007, shortly before being named FIFA Player of the Year, he acknowledged that he had considered quitting amid the violence and corruption scandals surrounding the sport in Italy. He became an Italian citizen in February 2008 but would have to wait until 2009 to make his debut for Italy’s national team.