Kaká

São Paulo

Kaká began his career with São Paulo at the age of eight. He signed a contract at 15 and led the São Paulo youth squad to Copa de Juvenil glory. He made his senior side debut on 1 February 2001 and scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, in addition to leading São Paulo to its first and only Torneio Rio-São Paulo championship, in which he scored two goals in two minutes as a substitute against Botafogo in the final, which São Paulo won 2–1. He scored ten goals in 22 matches the following season, and by this time, his performance was soon attracting attention from European clubs. Kaká made a total of 58 appearances for São Paulo, scoring 23 times.

AC Milan

The steady European interest in Kaká culminated in his signing with the European champions, Italian club AC Milan, in 2003 for a fee of reported €8.5 million, described in retrospect as "peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi. Within a month, he cracked the starting lineup, replacing Rui Costa in the attacking midfield playmaking position, behind strikers Jon Dahl Tomasson, Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko. His Serie A debut was in a 2–0 win over Ancona. He scored ten goals in 30 appearances that season, also providing several important assists, such as the cross which led to Shevchenko's title-deciding headed goal, as Milan won the Scudetto and the UEFA Super Cup, whilst finishing as runner up in the Intercontinental Cup and the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana. Milan also reached the semi-finals of…

Youth career and early senior career

Kaká was called up for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, but the Brazilians crashed out to Ghana in the quarter-finals. Several months later, he made his debut for the senior Brazil squad in a friendly match against Bolivia on 31 January 2002. He was part of Brazil's 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning squad in Korea/Japan, but played only 25 minutes, all of which were in the 5–2 first round victory against Costa Rica on 13 June. In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where Brazil, competing with their under-23 team, finished as runner-up to Mexico. He scored three goals during the tournament.

First Confederations Cup title and 2006 World Cup

Kakà was included in Brazil's squad for 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. He appeared in all five matches and scored one goal in a 4–1 win over Argentina in the final.

Kaká made his first FIFA World Cup finals start in 2006 and scored his first and only goal of the tournament with a 25-yard strike in Brazil's 1–0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opener, for which he was named Man of the Match. Kaká was unable to keep up the momentum for the remainder of the tournament, as Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals with French star Thierry Henry scoring the winner.

In 2006 he was part of the "magic quartet". Kaká and Ronaldinho in midfield, backed up by strikers Ronaldo and Adriano. The team was top heavy and unbalanced, and forced to work…

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the sport, Kaká has been described on the FIFA website as having the "capacity to glide almost effortlessly past opponents, provide defence-splitting passes and score consistently from distance." In his prime at Milan and prior to the injuries he suffered at Real Madrid, Kaká was an intelligent, quick, and hardworking player that could dribble past defenders in one-on-one situations as well as during counterattacks. Regarding his speed and elegance on the ball during his trademark forward runs, in 2017, Karl Matchett of Bleacher Report stated:

His gait, particularly when in possession, was mesmeric. Reasonably unusual in stature for a playmaking midfielder at a little over six feet tall, Kaká could still turn and accelerate past a defender in the same way the smaller, low-centre-of-gravity No. 10s would manage—but that same elegant, long-legged stride made him unstoppable on the run. Tim Vickery of ESPN wrote, "Kaká running forward with the ball had the power of a freight train. He married power with finesse". He also wrote on the impact of his knee and groin issues at Madrid, adding, "once his acceleration had been reduced, he lacked the subtlety to shine as before." Carl Anka of the BBC writes that his "knee and groin problems sapped him of the explosive half-yard burst he needed to navigate the corridors of midfield uncertainty", and that by 2009, he…

Kaká was born in São José do Belmonte, Pernambuco. Until 2006 he was on contract to União Bandeirante Futebol Clube, also being loaned to several modest Brazilian clubs. For 2006–07 he made the move to Europe, joining Portuguese side Académica de Coimbra and being an undisputed starter in his second season in the Primeira Liga (all 30 games played, 2,700 minutes of action), as they finished in 12th position. In May 2008, Kaká signed with Bundesliga's Hertha BSC for €1.9 million. He made his debut in the competition on 17 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away win against Eintracht Frankfurt, and finished his debut campaign with 12 matches. After only appearing twice for the Berlin-based team in the first half of 2009–10 – the season eventually ended in relegation – he was loaned to AC Omonia in Cyprus on 31 January 2010, helping it win the First Division title for the first time in seven years. Kaká continued to be rarely played at Hertha after his return and, in another winter transfer window move, returned to Portugal and joined S.C. Braga, yet on loan. With the Minho club he established himself as a regular, finishing the 2010–11 season with 20 competitive appearances, including eight in the team's UEFA Europa League run to the final, with the player taking the field in the decisive game against FC Porto (1–0 loss). At the end of the season, Kaká returned to Hertha. On the last day of the 2011 summer transfer window he was once again loaned, this time to…

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite was born on 22 April 1982 in Gama in the Federal District of the Central-West Region of Brazil to Simone dos Santos, an elementary school Teacher, and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite, a civil engineer. His family was financially secure, which allowed him to focus on school and football at the same time. His younger brother Digão and cousin Eduardo Delani are also professional footballers. Digão called him "Caca" due to his inability to pronounce "Ricardo" when they were young; it eventually evolved into Kaká. The word has no specific Portuguese translation. When he was seven, Kaká's family moved to São Paulo. His school had arranged him in a local youth club called "Alphaville", who qualified to the final in a local tournament. There, he was discovered by hometown club São Paulo FC, who offered him a place in the youth academy. At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident, but made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.

Omonia

Cypriot First Division: 2009–10 Braga

UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2010–11 APOEL

Cypriot First Division: 2013–14, 2014–15 Cypriot Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15