Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaka, was born on 22nd April 1982 in Brazil .
Kaká made his professional football debut at the age of 18 with São Paulo in 2001. In his first season with the club, Kaka led the Brazilian side to their first Torneio Rio-São Paulo Championship, scoring two goals within two minutes in the final. After an impressive second season, scoring 10 goals in 22 games, Kaka caught the attention of Italian side, AC Milan.
Kaka joined AC Milan in 2003 for a reported 8.5 million Euros. In his first season, Kaka helped the club win the Serie A title and the Super Cup.
Kaka was instrumental to Milan's success in the 2006–07 Champions League, his 10 goals saw him finish as the tournament's top goal scorer. After his impressive season Kaka was awarded the World Player of the Year, the 2007 Ballon d'Or and the Club Footballer of the Year.
After 6 years with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid in 2009 for a transfer fee of 67 million Euros, which was the second highest transfer fee at the time. During his four seasons with the Spanish giants, Kaka helped the club win the 2010-11 Copa del Rey and La Liga in 2011-12.
After a few injury troubled seasons in Madrid, Kaka returned to Milan for a single season, scoring 7 goals in 30 games.
Kaka officially ended his professional club career at Orlando City, after spending three seasons with the MLS club.
Kaka made his international debut for Brazil in 2002, where he was selected for their victorious World Cup winning squad. He appeared in all five matches during the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and scored one goal in a 4–1 win over Argentina in the final.
In 2006 he was part of the "magic quartet" Brazilian team made up from Kaká and Ronaldinho in midfield, backed up by strikers Ronaldo and Adriano. Kaka received the Golden Ball (player of the tournament award) at the 2009 Confederations Cup and was named "Man of the Match" in the final after helping Brazil win 3–2 against the USA.