Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982), better known as Kaká, is a Brazilian footballer midfielder for Brazil and A.C. Milan.

Kaká was born in Brasília, Brazil 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.

In September, 2000, at the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. The next year, Kaká made his comeback on the pitch, when he came in as a reserve-substitute in the Tornero Rio Final and scored two goals, among them the match-winner, in less than five minutes. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.

In 2000, at the age of 17, while he was still in São Paulo FC's youth squad, the club was set to sell Kaká to Turkish 1st division side Gaziantepspor, who turned down the deal after refusing to pay a price of $1.5m for him. Kaká made his São Paulo debut in January 2001, scoring 12 goals in 27 appearances, and 10 goals in 22 appearances the next season. His performance was soon attracting attention from European clubs. AC Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard in 2003 for $8.5 million, a fee described in hindsight as "peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi. Within a month, he cracked the starting lineup, and has remained there since. His Serie A debut was in a 2-0 Milan win at A.C. Ancona. He scored 10 goals in 30 appearances that season, as Milan won the Scudetto 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Kaká was an integral part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko.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 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up to Juventus. Despite Milan losing the 2004-05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament, and also finished ninth, with 19 votes, in the running for the 2005 Ballon D'Or.

The 2005-06 season saw Kaka score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competition: On April 9, 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo Verona. All three goals were scored in the second half. Seven months later, he scored his first Champions League hat-trick in a 4-1 group stage win over RSC Anderlecht. The football world was beginning to take notice of a superstar in the making.

Former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC for the 2006-07 season allowed Kaká to become the focal point of Milan's offense. As of May 2, 2007, he is currently the top scorer in the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League with ten goals, which have proved a huge catalyst in steering Milan back to the CL final. One of them helped Milan squeak by Celtic FC 1-0 after extra time in the quarterfinals on a 1-0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semifinals despite Milan losing the first leg. Following the convincing 3-0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked out the English champions, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson proclaimed Kaká as one of the two best players in the world, alongside his charge Cristiano Ronaldo. The previous month, a panel of experts set up by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed Kaká as the world's best footballer. Shevchenko also included his endorsement, while suggesting that Kaká deserved to win the Ballon d'Or.

Kaká made his Seleção debut in January 2002 against Bolivia. He was part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but played only 19 minutes, all of which were in the first round match against Costa Rica. During the final against Germany, coach Luis Felipe Scolari was reportedly about to send Kaka on as a substitute, but he never made it into the game as the referee didn't notice him waving on the sidelines to enter the pitch.

In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the Gold Cup tournament, where Brazil finished as runner-up, as did Kaka with a second-best three goals. He was also named as one of the competition's top eleven players by position. On June 29, 2005, he scored in a 4-1 defeat of Argentina in the 2005 Confederations Cup final, hitting a rocket into the upper right-hand corner of the net. He finished in joint tenth place in the voting for the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award, and finished two spots higher the following year.

Kaká started in his first FIFA World Cup Finals in 2006, scoring his first and only goal in a 1-0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opening match. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep up his momentum for the remainder of the tournament as Brazil were ingloriously eliminated by France in the quarterfinals. Despite his mediocre World Cup form, he maintained his starting position among new Brazil coach Dunga's new squad of younger talent for Brazil's post-WC friendly matches. On September 3, 2006, he scored one of his most brilliant goals for Brazil, receiving the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick and taking the ball down three quarters of the field to score.

On May 12, 2007, citing an exhaustive schedule of Serie A, Champions League and national team play, Kaka openly bowed out of the upcoming 2007 Copa América. "I haven't had a break for three seasons. I won't have the form to achieve what is expected of me at an international level." Dunga took the optimistic route, declaring that while he was disappointed about Kaká's decision, his absence would subsequently free up a roster spot for a lesser-used player.

In 2005, two days before Christmas, Kaká married 19-year-old Caroline Celico at the Reborn in Christ Church. She was born on July 26, 1987 to Rosangela Lyra, the director of Dior in Brazil, and entrepreneur Celso Celico. She and Kaká met in 2001 while she was a student and he was playing for São Paulo. The wedding drew 600 guests, including fellow Brazilian footballers Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano, Dida, Júlio Baptista, and then-Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline is currently attending university in Milan, where she plans to earn a business degree.

A devout evangelical Christian, he wore an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt during Milan's Scudetto celebration in 2004 and after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 WC final, and had the same phrase, along with "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots. During the postmatch celebration after Brazil's 2005 Confederations Cup victory, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lúcio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages.

Kaká is a member of the "Athletes of Christ" organization. His goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a sign of thanks to God after every goal, and is proud that he was a virgin when he married. His favourite music is gospel, and his favourite book is the Bible.

His nickname is pronounced as it is spelled, with stress on the second syllable. It is a commonly-used term of endearment of "Ricardo" in Brazil. In Kaká's case, however, it was born from his younger brother Rodrigo's calling him "Caca" due to his inability to pronounce the word "Ricardo"; it eventually evolved into Kaká.


He has served as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations' World Food Programme since November 2004, the youngest to do so at the time of his appointment.
He turned down the chance to take over the #10 jersey for Milan following Rui Costa's departure in 2006, despite the clamoring of many Milan fans that he should wear it.
Kaká owns a PlayStation Portable; his favorite games include FIFA 07, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, and NBA 07.
He was once described by Pelé as having "Brazilian technique combined with European strength."
Kaká was sworn in as an Italian citizen on February 12, 2007. He is ineligible to play for Italy, though, having already played for Brazil.

 

 衣袖上绣着一颗心，胸前写着“我属于耶稣”。{gj}联赛夺冠之夜，卡卡的赛后庆祝再一次将他的宗教信仰展现在闪光灯前。比赛一结束，他就双膝下跪，展开双臂，仰望天空，祈祷着。

 

    卡卡一直清楚地表明，他要把生活和事业一起奉献给上帝。每次他进球后都会手指天空，作为感恩的手势。他喜欢听福音乐曲，业余时间上教堂，并将10%薪水捐献出来。他的腕带上印着耶稣，{za}读的当然是《xx》。

 

    卡卡12岁成了教徒，从此每周都去教堂听牧师讲道。2000年他的宗教信仰更深了，那年他摔进了泳池，摔断椎骨。“从那刻起我知道信仰会决定有些事情是否发生，”卡卡坦承，“他们说是运气，我的家人说那是上帝，我们知道是上帝的手拯救了我。”

 

    宗教信仰一直存在于巴西足球圈内，卡卡算是个极端例子。他是基督徒体育协会的一员，该组织成立于1970年，由一批重要的福音派运动员组成，”——一个为运动员提供精神帮助的组织。前巴西国脚穆勒也是该组织的成员，他说过:“基督的运动员的主要目标是告诉年轻运动员，只要他们心存信仰并宽容对人，耶稣永远都会指引着他们。我们都是上帝的羔羊。”
     这些话语所代表的精神一直指引着卡卡。主张体育领域的成功来源于对上帝的强烈信仰。在踢职业足球、成为球星前，卡卡就加入了该组织，而很多xx运动员加入该组织的目的，不过是在职业生涯遭到挫折时获得精神上的慰藉。

 

耶稣的形象在卡卡的日常生活中随处存在。每次他离开家，母亲都会说:“上帝保佑你。”如果有人收到过他的签名，或是看到过他的表带、鞋乃至电话上的便条，都会很容易地发现上面有“上帝”、“耶稣”这些字眼。每次庆祝进球，卡卡都会张开双臂仰望天空，口中喃喃地说:“感谢耶稣。”他最喜欢的书是《xx》，最喜欢的颜色是白色——在耶稣教里表示纯洁，还喜欢听宗教音乐。卡卡把他每个月收入的10％都捐赠给他每个xx天都去做弥撒的教堂。卡卡说跟上帝在过去的一些年赐予他的比起来，他的捐赠只不过是一小部分罢了。米兰城的大部分教堂是天主教教堂，和卡卡在巴西常去的耶稣会教堂有所区别，不过经过一段时间，卡卡还是找到了自己能去做弥撒的耶稣会教堂

 

最近一段时间以来，卡卡每周都要花很多时间研究神学。卡卡透露退役后既不会当教练，也不会当解说，“只有当我把耶稣现在赐予我的一切还给他，我的生命才完整。{zh0}的方式就是成为传道士。”

 

卡卡献身上帝的迹象无处不在。2003-04赛季米兰夺得意甲{gj}，卡卡就穿着“我属于耶稣”的背心庆祝，他的球鞋前端绣有“上帝是忠实的”字样。神父斯泰韦内特曾说，卡卡对教堂活动帮助很大，“我见过有5个对足球狂热的男孩子，当他们看到巴西队在世界杯上祈祷后，吃早饭时便一直在说，辩论被激发了。”

 

卡卡自己也意识到他的宗教形象对年轻人的潜在影响。卡卡被奉若神明，这有利于吸引喜欢足球的年轻人投身宗教。他说：“只有站在耶稣这一边才能赢。”

 

卡卡，一位足球场上的虔诚信徒。自从进入到世界传媒的视野之后，他从不放弃任何一个以足球布道的机会——特别是在他进球之后。阿迪达斯在定做他的球鞋时，在鞋的内侧写上一句话：“上帝是忠诚的。”他的电话留言更能说明问题：“我是卡卡，现在我不能接听。上帝保佑你，再见。”从小，卡卡就戴着一个刻有 “Jesus(耶稣)”字样的手镯，另一条布质手链上则被绣上了OQJF，这是一句话每个单词的首字母，这句话的意思是，“如果耶稣在我的位置上会怎么做呢？”

　　杜特尔形象设计公司曾经有一个统计，世界上100名{dj0}球星中，87%的人从小就树立了以足球为生的信念。因为贫寒常常使得这些穷孩子别无选择，足球除了是儿童时代最廉价的游戏外，也让他们在呐喊中萌发对未来的憧憬。几天前，当罗纳尔多出席里约“上帝之城”的慈善活动时，一位和他长得很像，同样在贫民窟出生的孩子告诉罗尼他{zd0}的心愿就是到60公里外有草皮的场地训练。罗纳尔多听后流下了眼泪，心酸的往事使他无法控制自己的情绪，{zh1}他告诉孩子们：“有的时候，对于一名真正的球星来说，贫穷就是财富，就是成功的基石”。

　　但就在巴西国家队中，也有另一个例外。出生在富裕、富足中的卡卡，结缘投身足球的理由那又是什么呢？
　　当耐克公司在广告中继续着那些传说般的故事：用3R，也就是罗纳尔多、卡洛斯和小罗演示穷富xx的时候；阿迪达斯为什么继贝克汉姆、劳尔、巴拉克等一批俊杰之后，把新的重赌压到了卡卡身上？
　　一位分明是英俊洒脱，羞涩沉默的年青人，为什么会那么在乎失误，几乎悲痛欲绝；那么注重进球，刹那间可以变得歇斯底里？

　　一位巴西专栏作家说卡卡是一首圣诗，而且是来自晨曦，出自纯洁少年口中的诗。也有人认为卡卡过于清澈了，他该如何经历浑浊，成就起一番足球的圣业？当圣西罗的凯歌已成终曲，拉科鲁尼亚的创伤还没有愈合，我们带着上述无法厘清的感觉，走近了这位当今足坛最被看好的夺目新人，卡卡向《足球周刊》解析了自己对足球的别于他人的理解和渴望。听起来不十分xx，但是让人感觉到，坐在我们
面前的是一个真实的卡卡

生日：1982年4月22日

身高：184cm

体重：73kg

现效力俱乐部：AC米兰

曾效力俱乐部：巴西圣保罗

家庭状况：

父亲：鲍斯高·伊泽森·柏莱拉·莱特 工程师

母亲：西蒙妮·科里斯蒂娜·桑托斯·莱特 教师

弟弟：罗德里格·伊泽森·桑托斯·莱特 学生

妻子：卡罗琳 学生

个人喜好：

爱好：高尔夫，网球、保龄球、看录影带、听福音、打电子游戏

喜欢的音乐：福音音乐

喜欢的福音乐团：Resgate和Renascer Praise

喜欢的xx：Aline Barros

喜欢的音乐专辑： Renascer Praise的第六张专辑《承诺》

喜欢的女演员：Regina Duarte

喜欢的DVD：只有Renascer Praise的

喜欢的电影：《绿色奇迹》、《怒海潜将》

喜欢的书：《xx》

喜欢的颜色：白色

喜欢的品牌：阿玛尼

喜欢的香水：CK和Hugo Boss

我的妻子将会是：充满灵感的女孩

挚爱的城市：巴西利亚，我出生的地方

休闲时候会和家人经常做的事情：去教堂，给朋友捐助

罗曼蒂克还是深情：深情

偶像：只有耶稣

职业典范：拉易、济科、塞纳

敬佩的人：善于沟通的人

开心的事：踢球 

人生观点：

爱：我爱很多的事物，但是爱的方式和程度各有不同

钱：用来救助那些无所依靠的人

快乐：与上帝同行。

朋友：生活在苦难中的人们

婚姻：相濡以沫

离家前：妈妈会对我说，上帝保佑你

祷告词：按照父的指引去做，没人能够使你停下脚步

形容上帝：永远让人信赖

生活信念：过得开心

人生信条：让自己在各方面不断进取

遇到危机时：我会祈祷

困扰巴西的是：不公正和腐败

对巴西有所裨益的是：体育

我们的人民需要抗争的是：饥饿

面临困惑的解决方法：信心

谁在生活中教会你更多：家庭