Kaká

Personal information

Full name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite
Date of birth: April 22, 1982
Place of birth: Brasília, Brazil
Height: 1.86 m (6 ft 2 in)
Nickname: Kaká, The Golden Boy
Position: Attacking Midfielder

Early life

Kaká was born in Brasília, Brazil on the 22nd of April, 1982 to Simone Cristina dos Santos Leite and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite. He has a younger brother, Rodrigo Ifrano dos Santos Leite, known as Digão, who has followed in Kaká's footsteps by playing football in Italy.

His nickname Kaká, from his native Portuguese, is pronounced as it is spelled, with the stress being on the second syllable as the accent signifies. It is a commonly used shortened form of "Ricardo" in Brazil [1], however, Kaká received his nickname from his little brother, Rodrigo, who could not pronounce the word "Ricardo" when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca" which was later changed to "Kaká". [2]

In September, 2000, at the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture as a result of a pool accident. The worst did not occur, however, and Kaká fully recovered from the incident. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.[3]

Club career

Kaká made his debut at São Paulo FC in 2001 when he was 18 years old. In the first season, he scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, and 10 goals in 22 appearances in the following season. His performance attracted attention from European clubs, and it was AC Milan who won the race to sign him.

He joined AC Milan in 2003 for $8.5 m, a fee described as "peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi.[citation needed] Within a month, he became a first team regular, an he has been a starter ever since. He debuted in Serie A in an away match against Ancona, which Milan won 2-0. He scored 10 goals in 30 appearances that season, winning the Italian Serie A Championship and the European Super Cup.

Kaká was an integral part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko.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 league appearances, and also won the Italian Super Cup with the club. Milan finished second to Juventus in the Serie A, and lost the UEFA Champions League final to Liverpool on penalty kicks. He was voted the best midfielder of the Champions League tournament. He also ended up in the ninth place in the 2005 Golden Ball poll, earning 19 votes.

One of Kaká's most notable goals has been the one against Fenerbahçe SK in the AC Milan's first game in the 2005-06 Champions League, won 3-1 by the Rossoneri. It had pundits draw instant comparisons to Diego Maradona, as Kaká started his run from the midfield and skipped past three tackles before entering the area and finishing with a low shot under Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel.

On April 9, 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo Verona. All three goals were scored in the second half.

In 2006, Real Madrid showed an interest in signing the 24 year old star, but Milan refused to sell him and Kaká signed a contract extension until 2011.

On November 1, 2006, AC Milan moved to within a point of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages as Kaká scored a hat-trick to help the team win 4-1 against RSC Anderlecht. This was his second hat-trick at Milan and his first hat-trick in European competitions.

International career

Kaká made his international debut in January 2002 against Bolivia. He was a part of the national squad which won the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but did not see much action playing just 19 minutes of the first round match against Costa Rica. In 2003, he was the captain for the Gold Cup tournament in the US and Mexico, leading Brazil to the second place and scoring key goals against Colombia. Later, he was in action at the 2005 Confederations Cup, with Kaká scoring in the Confederation Cup final win over Argentina. (During the postmatch celebration, he and several of his teammates sported T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" written in different languages.) He finished in joint tenth place in the voting for the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. In the 2005 competition he finished two places higher. More recently, he helped Brazil qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Kaká has matured as a player and is currently considered as one of the best footballers from Brazil. He scored Brazil's first goal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Croatia on 13 June 2006.

On 3 September 2006 he scored one of his most brilliant goals for the Brazilian team after assisting a goal to a new team addition, Elano. Kaká received the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick, and took the ball 3/4 of the field beating Argentine star Lionel Messi to score. On 15 November 2006, Kaka was chosen as Brazil captain for a friendly match against Switzerland in the absence of current Brazil captain Lucio due to injury.

2006 World Cup

In the first match for Brazil, in group F, Kaká scored a goal in the 44th minute against Croatia. A left-foot strike from 25 meters led Brazil to the 1-0 victory. The media regarded him as the only member of the "magic quintet" – Adriano, Kaká, Ronaldo, Robinho and Ronaldinho – who produced in the match. Also against Ghana he wrote himself into the history books by assisting the goal that Ronaldo broke Gerd Müller's World Cup goalscoring record with. He was unable to carry his momentum into the next match and Brazil were eliminated by France in the quarter finals.

Personal life

Kaká married Caroline Celico at the Reborn in Christ Church on December 23, 2005, two years after Kaká's move from São Paulo to Milan. Caroline was born on 26 July 1987 to Rosangela Lyra, the director of Dior in Brazil, and Celso Celico, an entrepreneur. She and Kaká met in 2001 while she was a student and he was playing for the São Paulo Football Club. The wedding was attended by about 600 people, including fellow Brazilian footballers Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano, Dida, Júlio Baptista and (then) Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline plans to earn a business degree from a university in Milan.

Kaká is a devout evangelical Christian.

He is known to sport Christian gear from time to time: he has worn an "I Belong to Jesus" t-shirt on several occasions during matches, such as during the Brazilian team's celebration after their 2002 World Cup victory, and during Milan's Scudetto celebration in May 2004. He wears shoes customised with the same words written on them. [6] Every time he scores he points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks to God, and, in what is possibly a first for a footballer at his level, he is proud that he was a virgin when he married.

Trivia

* In Italian, the language of his current club team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kakà. However, the player's shirt name is spelled KAKA' (with an apostrophe, rather than an accented 'A') for both his club in Milan and in the past for the Brazilian national team. In the World Cup 2006, the back of his shirt read KAKÁ. Kaká is also of Portuguese descent.

* Since November 2004, Kaká has been an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme. He was the youngest ambassador at the time of his appointment

Honours

Team honours

* FIFA World Cup, 2002
* FIFA Confederations Cup, 2005
* Serie A,2003-2004
* Italian Super Cup 2004
* European Supercup, 2003

Individual honours

* Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball; Best Player Of Brazilian League), 2002
* UEFA Club Football Awards 2004-05, Best Midfielder

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The History of Football (Soccer)

Soccer, game played by two teams on a rectangular field, in which players attempt to knock a round ball through the opponents’ goal, using any part of the body except the hands. Generally, players use their feet and heads as they kick, dribble, and pass the ball toward the goal. One player on each team guards the goal. This player, the goalkeeper, is the only player allowed to touch the ball with the hands while it is in play.

Soccer is a free-flowing game that has relatively few rules and requires little equipment. All that is needed to play is an area of open space and a ball. Much of the world's soccer is played informally, without field markings or real goals. In many places, the game is played barefoot using rolled-up rags or newspapers as a ball. Soccer is the world's most popular sport, played by people of all ages in about 200 countries. The sport has millions of fans throughout the world.

Only in the United States and Canada is the game referred to as soccer. Outside these countries the sport is commonly called football, or fútbol in Spanish-speaking countries, where the game is particularly popular. The official name of the sport is association football. The word soccer is a slang corruption of the abbreviation assoc.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the worldwide governing body of soccer. FIFA governs all levels of soccer, including professional play, Olympic competitions, and youth leagues. The organization also governs the sport’s premier event, the World Cup, an international competition held every four years pitting national teams from 32 countries against one another.

Evidence from many ancient societies—Chinese, Greek, Maya, and Egyptian—reveals that kicking games were a part of those cultures. The modern game of soccer began in the 19th century in England, when a variety of football games developed, all of which involved both handling and kicking the ball. The first laws of the modern game were supposedly drafted in 1862 by J. C. Thring of the Uppingham School. At a meeting of the London Football Association (FA) in 1863, the game was split into rugby football (the parent sport of American football), which permitted handling and carrying the ball, and association football, or soccer, which banned the use of the hands.

At first soccer was played mostly in private schools and universities, but before long people of the working classes picked up the sport. The FA Cup, a tournament first organized in 1871, sparked the rapid spread of soccer in England. (The tournament, which is still played, climaxes with the annual Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London.) An 1872 game in Glasgow, Scotland, between an English all-star team and its Scottish counterpart marked the beginning of international play. In 1885 the FA recognized the legitimacy of professional players and regular league play started in England in 1888.

Soccer's global spread began in the late 1800s, when British traders, sailors, and soldiers carried the sport all over the world. Germans, Italians, and Austrians were eager converts in Europe, while Argentines, Uruguayans, and Brazilians took quickly to the sport in South America. FIFA was formed in 1904. By 1930 professional leagues were operating in many countries, and that year FIFA organized the first World Cup in Uruguay.

One nation that long resisted soccer was the United States. Soccer was played in the United States, mostly among immigrants, but it was not until the 1970s that a national professional league gained some popularity. The North American Soccer League (NASL), founded in 1968, earned a devoted following thanks in part to the import of players such as Brazilian star Pelé, and by 1980 the league had 24 teams. But the league was not financially sound, and in 1984 it went out of business. However, the NASL left a legacy of growing American involvement in the sport at the youth level. By the 1990s soccer was the fastest-growing college and high school sport in the United States.

The growing number of players in the United States attracted sponsorship for the sport, and faith in its future was recognized by FIFA when it granted the USSF the right to organize the 1994 World Cup. The event proved to be a great success, attracting nearly 3.6 million attendees over the course of its 52 games. This strong show of support led to the formation of Major League Soccer, which brought top-level soccer back to the United States two years later.

A new U.S. women’s professional league, the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), started up in 2001. The league, which was formed after the great success of the Women’s World Cup in 1999, showcased many of the top female players from around the world. The eight-team league lasted three seasons before financial problems forced it to shut down after the 2003 season.

In 2002 two countries shared World Cup hosting duties for the first time, as Japan and South Korea teamed up for the first World Cup to be held in Asia. Germany was selected to host the 2006 World Cup. China was named host of the 2003 Women’s World Cup, but the competition was moved to the United States after severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged as a serious health problem in China.

(MS. Encarta)
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Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras, born in 1971, American professional tennis player, who holds the record for most career grand slam singles titles with 14. Born Peter Sampras in Washington, D.C., he was raised in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. In 1988 he left high school to become a professional tennis player. In 1990 he won the United States Open and the inaugural Grand Slam Cup tournament.

Sampras, modeling his style of play on that of Australian tennis player Rod Laver, developed an extremely fast serve and powerful ground strokes. He also became known for his proficient volleying.

In 1993 Sampras won Wimbledon and then his second U.S. Open. That year he also became the first professional player to record more than 1,000 aces (serves beyond the reach of the opponent) in a single year.

During the mid- and late 1990s Sampras dominated the grand slam tournaments, which in tennis are Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open. He twice won the Australian Open (1994, 1997) and the U.S. Open (1995, 1996) and captured six more Wimbledon titles (1994, 1995, 1997-2000). With his seventh Wimbledon singles championship, Sampras tied a record set more than 100 years earlier. Sampras won at least one grand slam title every year from 1993 to 2000. In 2002 he won his fifth U.S. Open title, his 14th overall singles title in a grand slam event.

(MS. Encarta)
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Pele

Pelé, born in 1940, Brazilian soccer player who is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Pelé led Brazil to international dominance in soccer and three World Cup titles from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. He later helped popularize the sport in the United States.

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Três Corações, Brazil, Pelé grew up playing soccer (known as futebol in Brazil) in the streets of his hometown. Pelé’s father had been a professional player in the sport before injuries ended his career. Many Brazilian futebol players are known by a nickname—Pelé acquired his as a young boy, and later would say he did not know where it came from or what it means.

When Pelé was 15 years old and a promising player, his local coach tried to persuade the major soccer teams in São Paulo to sign him. They showed no interest, but the coach for the team in the coastal city of Santos signed Pelé for his junior team. Pelé was quickly promoted to the main team and became a star, showing an incredible instinct for the game along with a powerful shot, skillful ball control, and brilliant passing and field strategy.

Two years later, in 1958, Pelé made the prestigious Brazilian national team and appeared in his first World Cup. Not yet 18 years old, he became an international star when he scored six goals during the tournament, including three in one game against France and two in the final against host team Sweden. Pelé would go on to become the first player to appear on three World Cup title teams (1958, 1962, and 1970). His participation in the 1962 and 1966 tournaments was limited by injuries (often a result of vicious play), however, and Brazil lost its title to England in 1966. He remains among the all-time leading scorers in World Cup history with 12 goals.

Pelé was also a star on the club level. His Santos squad toured the world, winning the world club championship in 1962 and 1963. He led his league in scoring 11 times and in 1969 netted his 1,000th career goal. He retired from Santos in 1974 as one of the world’s most famous athletes.

Pelé stunned the sporting community in 1975 by coming out of retirement to play with the New York Cosmos of the growing North American Soccer League (NASL). His decision to play was motivated in part by the desire to increase the popularity of the game in America, the largest market in the world where soccer was not a leading sport. Pelé led the Cosmos to a league championship in 1977, then retired again. In the mid-1990s, with Brazil’s national soccer program beset by charges of corruption, Pelé accepted a position as the country’s sports minister. He continued to promote the game around the world. In 1999 the International Olympic Committee named Pelé the soccer player of the century.

(MS. Encarta)
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Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona, born in 1960, Argentine soccer player, who led Argentina to a World Cup title in 1986. An outstanding midfielder, considered the heir to Brazilian player Pelé as the world's best player, Maradona earned praise and respect from players and fans for his brilliant play-making and goal-scoring abilities. He achieved celebrity status throughout the world and led a highly visible and extravagant life.

He was born Diego Armando Maradona in Lanús, near Buenos Aires. The son of a factory worker, he began playing soccer for Las Cebollitas, a children's team, at the age of nine. At the age of 16 he was the youngest player to join Argentina's national team. Though he was already a star when Argentina hosted the World Cup in 1978, Maradona was not selected for that year's national team and did not participate in his country's victory in the tournament.

In 1979, however, he was voted South American player of the year. He led Argentina to its second World Cup title in 1986 and to the finals in 1990. He played for the professional soccer team of Barcelona in Spain from 1982 to 1984 and was then acquired in 1984 by Napoli, an Italian team from the city of Naples. With his help Napoli won the Italian League title for the first time in 1989.

Maradona encountered career problems after he was accused of drug use in 1991. That year he was dropped by the Naples team and barred from international competition for 15 months while facing drug charges in Argentina. In September 1992 he rejoined international soccer when he was signed by Seville, a team from Seville, Spain. Maradona struggled with Seville and was released by the team after one season.

Despite having admitted that the training sessions overwhelmed him, he returned to Argentina in 1993 to attempt another professional comeback. During the 1994 World Cup, however, Maradona received a 15-month suspension from international competition for testing positive for banned drugs. He subsequently became coach of the Argentine soccer team Racing Club, but he resigned the post in mid-1995. Later that year, when his playing ban expired, Maradona joined the Boca Juniors team of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

(MS. Encarta)
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