Ricardo Kaka Biography
Admittedly
one of my favorite players of today, the
decision as to whether or not write a Kaka biography was easy to take.
Despite his young age (he is currently 25) Kaka is one of the most
popular footballers of today and he is often considered one of the most
important players in Brazil's
national team, despite having other famous teammates such as
Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo or Adriano.
This Ricardo Kaka biography will take you through his entire career,
from his early life to his rise to stardom at AC
Milan.
==>Click Here to Learn How to Play Better Soccer <==
Ricardo
Kaka Biography – Early Career
Most brazilian
footballers
come from poor families and sport is one of their only ways to get out
of this state. Of course, there are exceptions and Kaka is one of them,
as he was born in a relatively rich family that encouraged him
to focus on both school and soccer at the same time.
Playing for Sao Paulo's youth team, he was already considered one of the future stars of Brazilian soccer and at age 17 he even had the chance for a move in Europe, although not necessarily at a big club, as Turkish side Gaziantepspor made Sao Paulo an offer. Despite the Turkish team being a possible launch pad to a big European club, the deal was off as Sao Paulo requested 1.5 million dollars, a heavy price for a youngster.
|
Ricardo Kaka
Biography – The Miracle
At the age of 18, he was taken for
the senior
squad of Sao Paulo for the first time and even started playing in a few
matches, gaining more and more confidence. However, his escalating
performances were brutally stopped by a career-threatening
injury, when the young Ricardo Kaka slipped at a swimming
pool fracturing his back.
Not only did
doctors believe
he would never again play soccer, but they feared the worse, as the
injury could easily lead to a paralysis.
Fortunately for
the
footballer, Kaka managed to miraculously recover and even came back on
the pitch the next season! Since then, grateful to God that He saved
his life, Kaka donates one tenth of his yearly
salary to the Brazilian Church. But the miracle didn't stop here. Just
one year
after recovering
from his injuries Kaka drew the eyes of Brazil's national team staff.
Making his debut for Brazil, Kaka was ready for a
European career.
==>Click Here to Learn How to Play Better Soccer <==
|
Despite playing one more season for Sao Paulo, his tremendous performances, having scored 23 goals in 58 matches for the club and also contributing to several others with his assists, earned him a visit from AC Milan's scouts.
Impressed
by the
young Brazilian's
vision, passing ability and dribbles,
Silvio Berlusconi, Milan's club owner had no second thoughts when he
had to sign the 8.6 million dollars deal for Kaka. Later on, Berlusconi
would describe this sum as being "peanuts" when
compared to the footballer's tremendous success.
|
Ricardo
Kaka Biography – AC Milan
When he came to Milan,
everyone thought Kaka
would be the substitute of their current playmaker, Andrea Pirlo, but
Carlo Ancelotti found room in the team for both of them as attacking
midfielders with playmaking roles, covered by a defensive "guard
dog" in Gennaro
Gattuso.
With this
trio in the starting
line-up, Milan marched on to win the Italian league in 2003-2004, with
Ricardo Kaka scoring 10 goals in 30 matches. The
following year, despite
Milan losing the league title to rivals Juventus
Torino, they managed to have a wonderful Champions League run, playing
and losing the final against Liverpool FC in a tremendous match. After
a
series of Kaka great
plays all throughout the tournament, the Brazilian was named the best
midfielder in Champions League that season.
After being
involved in the
Calciopoli scandal and threatened with relegation to the second
division, AC Milan was almost at the point of losing most of their
valuable players, including Ricardo Kaka.
With the
dust settling down
and the departure of Andrey Shevcenco, Milan's most
appreciated footballer, Kaka was given a more offensive role
and this paid off in the 2006-2007 season, when Milan managed a superb
Champions League run, with Kaka scoring 7 goals and being the
competition's top scorer.
Meeting
Liverpool in the final
of the competition, Milan managed to take their revenge
on the side that miraculously beat them in the 2005 final. The game
ended 2-1 for AC
Milan and Ricardo Kaka's great plays were decisive
at both goals, as the Brazilian dribbled his way to earn the free kick
responsible for the first goal and also gave the assist for the second
(both goals being scored by striker Filippo Inzaghi).
==>Click Here to Learn How to Play Better Soccer <==
Return from Kaka biography to Famous Soccer Players