Ricardo Kaka Biography

Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Kaka Biography

Family

Kaká's younger brother Rodrigo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, known as Digão , followed in his brother's footsteps and is currently on loan with Serie B team Rimini , after having spent some time in the AC Milan youth squad.
The nickname Kaká , from his native Portuguese , is pronounced as it is spelt. The accent would signify that the stress is on the second syllable. In Italian , the language of his current team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kakà , which is used for Italian television graphics. However, the player's shirt name is spelt KAKA' (with an apostrophe , rather than an accented 'A') for both Brazil and Milan.

An internet discussion forum explains the nickname as a commonly used shortened form of "Ricardo" in Portuguese. Kaká is supposed to have got his nickname because his little brother Rodrigo could not pronounce the word "Ricardo" when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca" which the latter later changed to "Kaká".

Accident
Kaká suffered an accident when he made a faulty jump off a diving-board, resulting in a vertebra fracture. This could have meant the end of his football career, but he believes that Jesus allowed him to recover and become the successful footballer he is now. When AC Milan won the Serie A title in 2004, Ricky, as he is called by his team-mates, sported a shirt with an "I Belong to Jesus" slogan. He also points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks every time he scores, for apparently the same reason.