Born into a comfortable, bourgeois home, not in the impoverished favelas. Impeccable with the ball, but not flamboyant.
Any way you perceive it, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaka, was never regarded as the stereotypical Brazilian player. Seldom relying on flashy and quick moves, direct, darting runs through the midfield became a staple of his game instead. As former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti once aptly put it, "He will always try to go vertically rather than horizontally. He will never take the extra, unnecessary touch."
In his prime, Kaka developed into one of the most polished and complete midfielders of his generation. Positioned predominantly as a playmaking, attacking midfielder throughout his career, he was also capable of shifting out wide or operating as a supporting forward.
Still going strong for Orlando City in MLS as he celebrates his 34th birthday, we take a look back at the best moments of Kaka's legendary career.
Winning Serie A in his debut season at Milan, 2003/04
Kaka was already a World Cup champion (though he had played just 18 minutes for Brazil in the 2002 group stage) when he joined Milan from Sao Paolo in 2003, but he was still largely an unknown quantity to Europe. Not for long.
The 21-year-old almost immediately supplanted the established Manuel Rui Costa in Milan's starting lineup, despite the Portuguese playmaker having played a key role in the Rossoneri's Champions League victory the season prior Kaka's arrival. And the young Brazilian repaid his manger's faith in spades, scoring 10 league goals as Milan won their only Scudetto of the decade. Kaka was named Serie A Footballer of the Year.
Goal vs Fenerbahce, Champions League group stage, September 2005
When he wasn't putting defense-splitting passes on platters for his teammates, Kaka was cutting through back lines all on his own. Much of what we've all come to love about Kaka stemmed from his forward thinking and wherewithal to effortlessly glide past defenders at full tilt (with some element of elegance, to boot).
Take this example against Fenerbahce. After picking up the ball from Massimo Ambrosini, he brushed off one defender, absorbed contact and sidestepped two others before finishing low under Volkan Demirel. Not quite as graceful as, let's say, Neymar, but controlled and efficient.
Winning the Champions League for the first (and only) time, May 2005
Avenging an unforgettable defeat in the 2005 final, AC Milan overcame Liverpool, 2-1 in normal time to claim their seventh Champions League title in 2007. With Javier Mascherano trailing him closely throughout the evenly contested clash, Kaka was far from his very best, but he won the free kick that set up Pippo Inzaghi's first goal and supplied the inch-perfect through ball for the clincher eight minutes from time. Kaka ultimately ran out top scorer in the competition with 10 goals, four more than Peter Crouch, Didier Drogba, Fernando Morientes and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Goal at Manchester United, Champions League semifinal, April 2007
"He is one of the two best players in the world," former Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said of Kaka, after he bore witness to Kaka single-handedly bowling over his side at Old Trafford in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal during the 2006/07 season.
Though Milan lost the encounter, 3-2, it was Kaka's two precious away goals that paved the way for progress to the final that year. His second, well, it blew us all away.
Patrice Evra and Gabriel Heinze are still recovering to this day.
Winning the Ballon d'Or in 2007
After helping Milan to Champions League and European Supercup glory, Kaka crowned his banner year by taking home the Ballon d'Or trophy in rather convincing fashion. The overriding favorite, the Brazilian accrued 444 votes, 167 and 189 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, respectively. It was the last year someone not named Ronaldo or Messi won the award. Add a FIFA World Player of the Year award and Club World Cup triumph to the collection, and 2007 went down as the year of Kaka.
