Fotbalistul brazilian Kaka – un sportiv in slujba lui Hristos

 Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite Kaka

Născut pe 22 aprilie 1982, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite este cunoscut sub numele de Kaka graţie fratelui său mai mic, care în copilărie nu putea să-i pronunţe numele corect. A fost evanghelizat la 12 ani, vîrstă la care a început să aibe “o relaţie de tipul tată – fiu cu Dumnezeu“. Tot atunci, a învăţat că “cea care decide dacă ceva se întîmplă sau nu, este credinţa în Dumnezeu”.

Intr-un interviu acordat în cadrul emisiunii TV „Esporte Espetacular”, atacantul lui AC Milan a mărturisit că studiază teologia pentru că misiunea sa este aceea de a deveni un pastor evanghelic care să le vorbească oamenilor despre Cuvântul lui Dumnezeu.

În octombrie 2000, la vîrsta de 18 ani, aflat în vizită la bunici, Kaka a adormit pe un tobogan aflat pe marginea unei piscine. A alunecat şi s-a lovit la cap, fracturîndu-şi în acelaşi timp şi o vertebră. Doctorii i-au spus că e norocos să poată merge normal. Referindu-se la acel moment, care putea pune capăt carierei sale, Kaka spune: “În timp ce doctorii vorbeau de noroc, familia mea vorbea de Dumnezeu. Întorşi acasă, i-am mulţumit cu toţii lui Dumnezeu pentru că mîna Lui a fost cea care m-a salvat.”

Incă de mic, Kaka a scris pe uşa camerei sale următorul mesaj: „un copil fericit il are pe Isus in suflet”. Câţiva ani mai târziu, sportivul a aderat la mişcarea creştină braziliană fondată in 1978, „Atleţii lui Hristos”.

In 2002, când Brazilia a câştigat Campionatul mondial de fotbal din Corea -Japonia, Kaka a îngenuncheat pe terenul de fotbal şi a început să se roage. Pe tricoul cu care joacă scrie „I belong to Jesus”, iar în interiorul ghetei sale a introdus mesajul : „Dio è fedele”. (Dumnezeu e fidel – n. red.).

Articol despre fotbalistul Kaka in limba engleza.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982 in BrasĂ­lia), better known as Kaka, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazil and the Serie A club A.C. Milan.

Kaka was born in BrasĂ­lia, 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 DigĂŁo, who has followed in Kaka’s footsteps by playing football in Italy.

His nickname Kaka, 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, however, Kaka 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 „Kaka”.

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

Kaka married Caroline Celico at the Reborn in Christ Church on December 23, 2005, two years after Kaka’s move from Saulo 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 Kaka met in 2001 while she was a student and he was playing for the Saulo Paulo Football Club. The wedding was attended by about 600 people, including fellow Brazilian footballers Cafu, Ronaldo, Adriano, Dida, Julio Baptista and (then) Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. Caroline plans to earn a business degree from a university in Milan.

Kaka is a devouted 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. 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.

Kaka made his debut at Saulo 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. 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.

Kaka 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 Kaka’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 KakĂ  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 Kaka signed a contract extension until 2011. He said he never wanted to go to Real and was happy at Milan.

On November 1, 2006, AC Milan moved to within a point of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages as Kaka 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

Kaka playing for Brazil. He 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 Kaka 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. Kaka 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 September 3 of 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.

2006 World Cup

In the first match for Brazil, in group F, Kaka 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, Kaka, 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 Muller’s World Cup goalscoringrecord with. He was unable to carry his momentum into the next match and Brazil were eliminated by France in the quarter finals.

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.