Kaká

Who is Kaká?

Ricardo Izecson, famously known as Kaká, is a Brazilian football legend who played as an attacking midfielder before he retired in 2017. One of the greatest footballers of the world, Kaká started his career at the age of 18, when he joined the Brazilian football club ‘São Paulo FC.’ He was part of the Brazilian squad that won the ‘FIFA World Cup’ title in 2002, before joining Italian club ‘AC Milan’ for €8.5 million in 2003. He spent most of his career with ‘AC Milan.’ His victories with this club include the win at the ‘2007 UEFA Champions League Final.’ He was also part of the ‘AC Milan’ team that finished as runners up at the ‘2005 UEFA Champions League Final.’ He left ‘AC Milan’ to join ‘Real Madrid’ for the second-highest transfer fees of €67 million, only behind Zinedine Zidane, in 2009. He helped his team win the ‘Copa del Rey’ in the 2010–2011 season and the ‘La Liga’ in 2011–2012 season. He returned to ‘AC Milan’ in 2013 but ended his contract with the club after a while. He was part of the ‘Major League Soccer’ (MLS) expansion team ‘Orlando City.’ He continued playing for ‘MLS’ until his retirement in 2017.

Career

Kaká’s sudden exposure to European clubs earned him a big deal with ‘AC Milan’ in 2003. The club signed him for a whopping €8.5 million.

He made his ‘Serie A’ debut for ‘AC Milan’ in Italy in a 1–0 win over ‘Ancona.’ He contributed 10 goals in 30 appearances for ‘AC Milan’ in the first season and earned nominations for both the ‘Ballon d’Or’ and the ‘FIFA World Player of the Year.’

In the 2004–2005 season, he helped his team win the ‘Supercoppa Italiana’ after beating ‘Lazio.’ He scored 7 goals in 36 appearances for the season and helped his team reach the ‘Champions League Final’ against ‘Liverpool.’

In the next season, he continued scoring hat-tricks in the ‘Italian Serie’ and the ‘UEFA Champions League.’ In the 2006–2007 season, he ended up becoming the top scorer, with a total of 19 goals at the ‘UEFA Champions League.’

He was also named the ‘UEFA Club Footballer of the Year’ and became part of the ‘UEFA Team of the Year’ in the same season. He was voted as 2007’s ‘IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker.’

In the 2007–2008 season, he won the ‘FIFA Club World Cup’ against the ‘Boca Juniors,’ scoring the third goal for ‘Milan’ in a 4–2 victory. He won the ‘Golden Ball’ for the best player of the tournament.

He finished his last season with ‘Milan’ with 16 goals and was nominated for the ‘FIFA World Player of the Year’ award.’ There were rumors about Kaká’s transfer from ‘Milan’ to another club.

After a lot of confusion, it was announced that Kaká would play for ‘Real Madrid’ from 2009. He made his official league debut for ‘Real Madrid’ on August 29, 2009, in a 3–2 win over ‘Deportivo de la Coruña.’

He ended the season with 8 goals and 6 assists in the ‘La Liga’ and 9 goals with 8 assists in other games. Kaká stayed away from the game for eight months due to an injury.

He scored his first goal of the season on January 9, 2011, in a 4–2 victory over ‘Villarreal.’ He finished the season with 7 goals in 20 appearances and led his team to win the ‘Copa del Rey.’

Kaká had a remarkable start to the season, where he scored 2 goals, served 2 assists, and won a penalty. He also became the best player at the ‘Champions League Matchday.’

He finished the season with 8 goals and 14 assists. He started the 2012–2013 season by winning the ‘2012 Supercopa de España’ against ‘Barça.’

Kaká became the highest-scoring Brazilian footballer in ‘Champions League’ history after scoring in a 4–1 win against ‘Ajax.’ After scoring 29 goals and 32 assists in 120 appearances, Kaká decided to bid goodbye to ‘Real Madrid’ and joined ‘AC Milan’ again, on September 2, 2013.

He scored his 100th goal for ‘Milan’ with an opening goal against ‘Atlanta.’ He joined the ‘MLS’ expansion team ‘Orlando City’ as their first “Designated Player.”

He entered the league in 2015 and continued playing brilliantly until he received the first red card of his career in a 1–1 draw against ‘Real Salt Lake.’ He continued playing a strong game for ‘MLS’ until he announced that he would not be renewing his contract for the 2018 season.

In April 2012, Kaká became the first sportsperson to amass ten million followers on Twitter,[11] and by March 2015, Kaká had the fifth-highest social media rank in the world among athletes, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Neymar, with 33 million Facebook fans