Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká, is a Brazilian football midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club. At the time, he also played tennis, and it was not until he moved on to São Paulo FC and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of fifteen that he chose to focus on football.

In 2003 he joined Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a world record fee of £56 million, smashing the previous record of Zidane, £49 million. Kaká's record was later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo when he joined Real Madrid for a fee of £80 million. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaká is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the UN' World Food Programme.

Early life

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 an assignment.

At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.

Club career

São Paulo

He scored 10 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.

Milan

Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004–05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored seven goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up in the ''Scudetto'' race. Despite Milan losing the 2004–05 Champions League final to Liverpool on penalties, he was nonetheless was voted the best midfielder of the tournament.

2005–06 saw Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic competition. On 9 April 2006, he scored his first ''Rossoneri'' hat-trick against Chievo; all three goals were scored in the second half. The following season, he scored his first Champions League hat-trick in a 4–1 group stage win over the Belgian side Anderlecht.

Andriy Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea for the 2006–07 season allowed Kaká to become the focal point of Milan's offense as he alternated between the midfield and striker positions. He finished as the top scorer in the 2006–07 Champions League campaign with ten goals. One of them helped the ''Rossoneri'' eliminate Celtic in the quarter-finals on a 1–0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals, despite Milan losing the first leg.

Kaká added the Champions League title to his trophy case for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool on 23 May 2007. Though he went scoreless, he won a free kick that led to the first of Filippo Inzaghi's two goals, and provided the assist for the second. For his stellar play throughout the competition, he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 ''UEFA.com'' visitors. On 30 August, Kaká was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006–07 Champions League season and UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.

He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1–1 home draw with Catania on 30 September, and on 5 October, he was named the 2006–07 FIFPro World Player of the Year. On 2 December 2007, Kaká became the eighth Milan player to win the Ballon d'Or, as he finished with a decisive 444 votes, long ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo. He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on 29 February 2008.

Due to his contributions on and off the pitch, ''Time'' magazine named Kaká in the Time 100, a list of the world's 100 most influential people, on 2 May. On 14 October, he cast his footprints into the Estádio do Maracanã's sidewalk of fame, in a section dedicated to the memory of the country's top players. He won the honor again in 2009.

BBC reported on 13 January 2009 that Manchester City made a bid for Kaká for over £100 million. Milan director Umberto Gandini replied that Milan would only discuss the matter if Kaká and Manchester City agreed to personal terms. Kaká initially responded by telling reporters he wanted to ''"grow old"'' at Milan and dreamed of captaining the club one day, but later said, ''"If Milan want to sell me, I’ll sit down and talk. I can say that as long as the club don’t want to sell me, I'll definitely stay."'' On 19 January, Silvio Berlusconi announced that Manchester City had officially ended their bid after a discussion between the clubs, and that Kaká would remain with Milan. Milan supporters had protested outside the club headquarters earlier that evening, and later chanted outside Kaká's home, where he saluted them by flashing his jersey outside a window.

Real Madrid

Kaká made his unofficial debut on 7 August 2009, in a 5–1 friendly victory against Toronto FC. He scored his first goal for Madrid during a pre-season match on 19 August 2009, in a 5–0 victory against Borussia Dortmund. Kaká later made his league debut on 29 August 2009 in a 3–2 win against Deportivo La Coruña. He scored his first goal, a penalty kick, on 23 September, in a 2–0 against Villarreal. On 5 August 2010, Real Madrid announced that Kaká had undergone a successful surgery on a long-standing left knee injury and would face up to four months on the sidelines. Kaká returned to training after a long lay-off and manager Jose Mourinho said that having Kaká back was like a new signing.

After an eight-month absence, Kaká returned to play by entering as a substitute for Karim Benzema on the 77th minute of a 3–2 victory over Getafe on 3 January 2011. He said he was "(...) happy for playing a game again and for stepping onto a pitch." His first league goal (and his first of the season) after his return from injury came with an assist from Cristiano Ronaldo on a 4–2 victory over Villareal on 9 January.

In March 2011 Kaká suffered from Iliotibial band syndrome which kept him sidelined for a few weeks. Kaka, after returning from injury, appeared in a convincing win over Valencia, scoring two goals.

International career

In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, where Brazil, competing with their under-23 team, finished as runner-up to Mexico. He scored three goals during the tournament. He 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 started in his first FIFA World Cup finals in 2006 and scored his first and only goal of the tournament in Brazil's 1–0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opener, for which he was named Man of the Match. He was unable to keep up the momentum for the remainder of the tournament, as Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals. In a friendly against rivals Argentina on 3 September 2006, after entering as a substitute, he received the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick and outran Lionel Messi while taking the ball down three quarters of the field to score.

On 12 May 2007, citing an exhaustive schedule of Serie A, Champions League, and national team play, Kaká bowed out of the 2007 Copa América, which Brazil won. After missing out on the Copa América, he returned to play in Brazil's friendly match against Algeria on 22 August 2007.

Kaká participated in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, marking his first international tournament since the 2006 World Cup. His only two goals came in Brazil's group stage opener against Egypt on 14 June, when he scored a goal in the fifth minute and then added a 90th-minute penalty in Brazil's 4–3 victory. He received the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament at the Confederations Cup and was also named the Man of the Match in the final after helping Brazil to a 3–2 win against the United States.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, during the 20 June match against Côte d'Ivoire, Kaká received a red card after receiving two yellow cards. The second card was given for an elbow in the direction of Abdul Kader Keïta. Kaká was innocent in the incident leading to the second yellow card, ''The Telegraph'' called this "an innocuous off the-the-ball incident". Kaká ended the tournament with three assists in total, and Brazil eventually ended up losing 2–1 to the Netherlands.

Personal life

Kaká was sworn in as an Italian citizen on 12 February 2007. He features prominently in Adidas advertising and also has a modeling contract with Armani, the latter preventing him from appearing in a photo collection alongside his Milan teammates that was published by Dolce & Gabbana in early 2007.

Raí, the former Brazilian and São Paulo FC captain, has always been the footballing role model of Kaká.

Kaká's best friend is fellow Brazilian Marcelo Saragosa who plays as a midfielder for the team FC Absheron in Azerbaijan. They both served as best man at each other's wedding.

Kaká is a follower of the evangelical Rebirth in Christ Church and devout evangelical Christian. Kaká became engrossed in religion at the age of 12: ''"I learnt that it is faith that decides whether something will happen or not."'' He removed his jersey to reveal an ''"I Belong to Jesus"'' t-shirt and openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Brazil's 2002 World Cup, and Milan's 2004 Scudetto and 2007 Champions League triumphs. He also had the same phrase, along with ''"God Is Faithful,"'' stitched onto the tongues of his boots. During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4–1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup final, he and several of his teammates wore t-shirts that read ''"Jesus Loves You"'' in various languages.

Though sharing a common goal, Kaká is not currently a formal member of the organization ''Atletas de Cristo'' ("Athletes of Christ"). In goal celebrations he usually points to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. Kaká's favourite music is gospel, and his favourite book is the Bible. Since November 2004, he has served as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the UN' World Food Programme, the youngest to do so at the time of his appointment.

On August 2010, EA Sports announceed that Kaká has been chosen for the cover of FIFA 11.

Kaká has a musical side to himself as he performed a song with his wife, Caroline, on her debut album. The song, entitled Presente de Deus, was written by Kaká himself for his wife and was resonated in the church during their wedding in 2005.

His nickname is pronounced as it is spelled, with stress on the second syllable (), and is a common term of endearment of "Ricardo" in Brazil. In Kaká's case, it was created by his younger brother Digão calling him ''"Caca"'' due to his inability to pronounce "Ricardo" when they were young; it eventually evolved into ''Kaká.''

Career statistics

Club

_{Source: Realmadrid.com – Kaká}

International goals

Honours

Club

;Milan

;Real Madrid

Country

Individual

References

External links

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He was a relatively obscure player when he arrived in FC Barcelona's first team in July 2008, but eventually made a name for himself in a relatively short period of time, reaching the Spanish national team in less than one year after making his professional club debut.

Club career

On 13 September 2008, Busquets played his first La Liga match, 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Racing de Santander. During Barcelona's UEFA Champions League match against FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park on 22 October 2008, he scored the second goal in the 15th minute in a 5–0 group stage win. In early December, in another start, he scored his second goal with ''Barça'' in the competition, netting in the 83rd minute of a 2–3 home loss against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. On 22 December, Busquets signed a contract extension until 2013, with a buy-out clause of €80 million.

On 7 March 2009, Busquets netted his first goal in La Liga in a 2–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao. On 27 May, having been regularly used in the league as he competed for the spot with internationals Seydou Keita and Yaya Touré, he also featured in Barcelona's starting eleven in the Champions League final, a 2–0 win over Manchester United. With that victory, Carles and Sergio Busquets became only the third father-and-son combo to both have won Europe's top club competition playing for the same team, joining Manuel Sanchís Martínez and Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo (won it with Real Madrid) and Cesare Maldini and Paolo Maldini (A.C. Milan).

Busquets' fine form continued in the 2009–10 season, with Guardiola preferring him to Yaya Touré as Barcelona's holding midfielder. In the Champions League semi-final against F.C. Internazionale Milano at Camp Nou on 28 April 2010, he went down to the ground after Thiago Motta had raised his arm and pushed Busquets in the face. As a result of this action, Motta was shown a second yellow card and sent off. Busquets was subsequently criticised by the media, as well as Motta, for apparently feigning injury.

Busquets was again everpresent for Barcelona in 2010–11, even playing as a central defender on occasion. On 27 January 2011, he signed a contract extension with Barcelona, keeping him at the club until 2015; the buyout clause was increased to €150 million. On 8 March, playing at centre back, he scored an own goal from a corner kick against Arsenal, in the season's Champions League round of 16, levelling the score at 1–1. Barcelona eventually won the game 3–1 (and 4–3 on aggregate).

International career

On 6 February 2009, he was called-up to the senior squad for the friendly against England, on 11 February. Busquets finally made his debut for ''La Furia Roja'' on 1 April 2009, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Turkey, playing 16 minutes in a 2–1 win in Istanbul, after replacing David Silva. Four days earlier, he had been named as a substitute when the same sides met in Madrid, where Spain ran out 1–0 winners, with a goal from team mate Gerard Piqué.

Busquets was selected by manager Vicente del Bosque for the finals in South Africa, assuming the holding midfielder role naturalized Brazilian Marcos Senna had previously had in the conquest of UEFA Euro 2008: he played all the matches and minutes for the eventual World champions (save for the last 30 minutes of the 0–1 group stage loss against Switzerland).

Club statistics

Honours

Barcelona

Spain

Individual

Personal

References

External links

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:People from Sabadell Category:Spanish footballers Category:Catalan footballers Category:Association football midfielders Category:Association football utility players Category:La Liga footballers Category:FC Barcelona Atlètic footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:Spain under-21 international footballers Category:Spain international footballers Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players

He is considered one of the best strikers in the world, having passed Jürgen Klinsmann's record of 15 goals (17) in a single UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League campaign. He also played a key role in guiding his club to a second UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League title, as well as finishing undefeated in the 2010–11 Primeira Liga season. In july of 2011, Falcao was regarded as the fifth best player in Europe during the 2010-11 season through balloting by 53 sportswriters of the UEFA member associations.

Radamel prefers to be called by his last name, He is known for a strong burst of pace and a powerful header. Falcao is a second generation footballer: his father, Radamel García, played professionally as a defender in Colombia. Falcao is named after the 1980s Brazilian and A.S. Roma legend Falcão. He is a devout Christian and leader of the Church youth groups ''"Locos por Jesús"'' and ''"Campeones para Cristo."''

Club career

River Plate (2005-2009)

At 19, Falcao debuted as a starter under Reinaldo Merlo, scoring two goals in his first start for River Plate. He quickly built a reputation, scoring seven goals in his first seven starts. He would score seven goals in 11 total 2005 appearances (four as a sub under Leo Astrada). He injured ligaments in his right knee while scoring a goal in a match against San Lorenzo. Falcao exacerbated the knee injury when he tore the anterior cruciate ligaments of the same knee during a pre-season practice in January 2006. The ACL injury subsequently caused him to miss an extensive amount of games. Recovering from the long period of inactivity that followed, Falcao struggled to regain fitness throughout 2006 and the spring of 2007, as nagging injuries continually derailed comeback attempts. The recovery period would be the most difficult of Falcao's career, as he would score only three goals in 25 appearances in aggregate over the fall and spring of 2006–07 — 10 of these appearances being late game substitutions. Early on in his career Falcao signed a deal with Josh Morsman and Joe Preston, for them to be his agents. He was quoted saying "This is a great day in my career, Josh and Joe are the best agents around, and i'm pleased to be joining them"

;Return from injury In the fall of 2007, Falcao returned to River's starting line up, and began to deliver on his early promise scoring a series of crucial game winning goals for his side. On 27 September 2007, Falcao scored a hat-trick for River Plate against Botafogo of Brazil, with the last goal coming in injury time, to guarantee River Plate a place in the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana — his goals helped overturn a two-goal deficit that River faced with only nine men on the pitch. Falcao subsequently scored a long range goal against Defensor Sporting to qualify River Plate to the semi-finals of the same tournament. He also scored his first goal in the famed Superclásico derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors on 7 October 2007. Concurrently, Falcao became a fixture on the Colombian national team, competing for qualification to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, earning call-ups to all of Colombia's fixtures.

Based on his performances in 2007, Falcao was voted a member of the prestigious "XI of America" in the annual survey of South American sports journalists conducted by ''El Pais de Montevideo''. Falcao came in fifth in overall voting for South American player of the year in the same survey. In the winter transfer market, River Plate would reject a reported €8 million ($12.5 million) offer from Deportivo La Coruña of Spain for the player.

Playing under Diego Simeone, Falcao won his first championship as on 22 June 2008, River Plate finished a top the Argentine Clausura 2008. In Simeone's 4–2–3–1 formation, Falcao adapted from his usual role as center forward to play in the middle of an attacking midfield trio — the switch saw him finding few scoring opportunities in the box but more involved in the overall play of the team. Falcao finished River's top scorer in the spring semester with ten goals (six in the league and four in the Copa Libertadores). He was also River's top scorer in aggregate across the 2007–08 period with 19 goals in 35 starts in all competitions across the fall and spring seasons.

Simeone's second season was to prove the least successful in River's long history with the side finishing last in the table for the first time. During the miserable campaign, Falcao would score only six goals but remain one of River's most consistent players. Under Simeone's replacement, Nestor Gorosito, Falcao would return to form, scoring 10 goals in 21 games in all competitions. In aggregate across the 2008–09 period, he would again be River's top scorer with 16 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions across the fall and spring periods.

FC Porto (2009-2011)

On 15 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 1–0 away defeat against Chelsea. Falcao would later score a brilliant header to defeat rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal on the sixth matchday, giving his team a 1–0 home victory. Four days later, on 30 September, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a group stage win over Atlético Madrid. On 2 February 2010, Falcao scored twice in a Portuguese Cup quarter-finals victory against rivals Sporting CP. In the same month, he scored the victory goal against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League round of 16 match, being his fourth goal in the tournament. On 3 April, Falcao scored a brace against Marítimo, and turned into the highest goalscorer of the Portuguese League with 20 goals, but he would finish the season as the second-highest league scorer with 25 goals, behind only Benfica's Óscar Cardozo, who had 26. He scored another goal in his last game of the season, the Portuguese Cup final, where Porto won 2–1 against Grupo Desportivo Chaves. He wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 34 goals in all competitions.

;2010–11 Falcao made an impressive start to the 2010–11 season, scoring a goal in the 2010 Portuguese SuperCup 2–0 victory over Benfica. He scored his first two league goals on the second matchday of the season against Beira-Mar on 22 August 2010. On 7 November, he scored twice (one of them an impressive backheel goal) in a 5–0 victory against the defending champions Benfica, and later, on 2 December, Falcao scored his first hat trick for Porto against Rapid Wien during a UEFA Europa League clash, becoming the top goal scorer of the competition with seventeen goals. On 7 April 2011, Falcao scored another hat trick in the quarter-final of the Europa League against Russian side Spartak Moscow, which was won by the Portuguese team by a score of 5–1, to bring his goal tally in the tournament to 10.

In the 2010–11 season, Porto won the league title in round 25 of the league against rivals and defending champions Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. He played a key role in that match, winning his team a penalty when the match was tied at 1–1; the penalty was scored by teammate Hulk. In the match against Spartak Moscow in the Europa League, Falcao scored a hat-trick and provided an assist in a 5–1 win. In the second leg, he scored another goal and provided another assist that took Porto to the tournament's semi-final stage. He further added to his position as top scorer in the competition by scoring four goals in the semi-final first leg against Villarreal CF, a game which finished 5–1 in favour of Porto.

In the UEFA Europa League final, Falcao scored the only goal of the game with a header after a cross from Fredy Guarín, giving the title to Porto. He set a new goalscoring record of 17 goals in 14 games during the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, surpassing Jürgen Klinsmann's previous record of 15 goals.

In July 2011 he extended his contract with €45 million buy-out clause.

Atlético Madrid (2011-)

International Career

He was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2011 Copa América because of his impressive form at Porto. Falcao proved his worth in their third group game against Bolivia, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win that secured passage into the quarter-finals. This being the first time Falcao has ever scored more than one goal in a game at international level. He missed a penalty kick in the 2nd half of regulation when the match was 0-0 in a loss against Peru, in the extra time, two mistakes of the Colombian goalkeeper making Colombia lose 2-0, besides the elimination of the tournament.

International goals

Career statistics

Club

Last update: 15 August 2011 ¹Includes other competitive competitions, including the Portuguese SuperCup.