This article is about the Brazilian footballer. For other uses, see Kaka. This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is dos Santos and the second is Leite.
Early life Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite was born in Brasília to Simone Cristina Santos Leite and Bosco Izecson Pereira Leite (a civil engineer). He had a financially-secure upbringing that allowed him to focus on both school and football at the same time.[2] His younger brother, Rodrigo (known as Digão), is also a professional footballer. When he was seven, his family moved to São Paulo.[3] His school had arranged him in a local youth club called "Alphaville," who qualified to the final in a local tournament.[4] There he was discovered by hometown club São Paulo FC, who offered an assignment.[5] At the age of 18, Kaká suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spinal fracture as a result of a swimming pool accident,[6] but remarkably made a full recovery. He attributes his recovery to God and has since tithed his income to his church.[7]
