Jari Litmanen was a tremendous Champions League player.
[quote=âRudi, post: 867323, member: 1052â]Some players have scored more goals.
Others have won more Champions Leagues.
But nobody has dominated this competition more than Kaka.[/quote]
Heâs definitely in the top tier with the likes of McManaman.
One thing is for sure, his transfer to Madrid was a crying shame for football. He was a joy to watch at Milan and didnât want to leave-he turned into a bit part player at Madrid. Interesting to see if he can rediscover his form at Milan again.
any players who regularly wears gloves has more than a cloud over him
[quote=âRudi, post: 867356, member: 1052â]
Zidane He was someone who never really dominated the game .[/quote]
The big man didnât like it up him.
As an evangelical Protestant, Kaka has Jesus looking down on him.
Kaka has retired, guys.
A great.
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A God
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never heard of him
What a player Ricky Kaka was. We had a very similar gait at full stride.
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Football Greatest episode on Sky now.
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Why this game?
Put simply, this was when Kaka confirmed that he was the worldâs best player.
What was the context?
In 2007, football desperately needed a new superstar. The previous era of legendary players was over: Zinedine Zidane had retired, Ronaldo has been discarded by Real Madrid and was a bit-part player for Milan, the likes of Luis Figo, Rivaldo and Pavel Nedved were now in their mid-30s, and Ronaldinho wasnât concentrating on his football. The reigning Ballon dâOr winner was Fabio Cannavaro, as he had captained Italy to World Cup success the previous year, but a centre-back doesnât get everyoneâs juices flowing.
It felt like there were three candidates to become the next equivalent of Ronaldo, Figo or Ronaldinho â brilliantly skilful, ruthlessly efficient attackers. One was Cristiano Ronaldo, who had returned from his World Cup 2006 feud with Wayne Rooney a different beast, and was now the symbol of Manchester United. Another was Lionel Messi, probably the most gifted teenager European football had witnessed since the Brazilian Ronaldo.
And then there was Kaka, who was three years older than Cristiano Ronaldo and five years older than Messi. He had turned 25 two days before this contest at Old Trafford but was still considered an emerging talent, a couple of years off his peak (despite consistent performances for a few seasons).
He hadnât been at Milan for their 2003 Champions League success, his starring first-half performance in the 2005 final was rendered irrelevant by the Italian clubâs subsequent collapse against Liverpool, and Brazilâs World Cup 2006 campaign ended in disappointment. Kakaâs previous Ballon dâOr finishes had been 15th, ninth and 11th. He still needed a particular moment to demonstrate he was the best around. This semi-final first leg was it.
The previous year, Kaka had faced Messi in a friendly between Brazil and Argentina at the newly built Emirates Stadium in London. International friendlies are routinely described as âmeaninglessâ, but contests between those countries always mean something. And much had been made of Kaka scoring the final goal in a 3-0 victory: taking advantage of a poor Messi touch, then roaring away from him on a 70-yard dribble before rolling the ball home. It was a âKnow your place, Kidâ moment.
This was his chance to upstage Cristiano Ronaldo. They had met a couple of years beforehand in Milanâs 2-0 aggregate victory over United in the Champions Leagueâs last 16, but this tie was truly hyped as a shootout between the worldâs new best players. âIt would be the perfect tribute to the great Eusebio, currently recovering in hospital after emergency surgery on his arteries, if two dazzling Portuguese-speaking talents lit up Old Trafford tonight,â read the match preview in The Daily Telegraph. Manchester United v AC Milan was Ronaldo v Kaka.
Ronaldo opened the scoring â albeit hardly with a moment of magic. Rising highest to meet a corner, his headed effort bounced off goalkeeper Didaâs shoulder, looped up into the air towards the net, and then Dida, under pressure from Unitedâs Gabriel Heinze, pushed it over his own goalline. It was arguably a Dida own goal, but Ronaldoâs name was on the scoresheet.
Was he as good as we remember?
This was the perfect distillation of what Kaka was all about.
Kaka wasnât a classic No 10.
A classic No 10 is capable of pulling the strings in midfield, putting his side in control of the game before occasionally pushing forward to provide the difference in the final third.
Kaka operated in a more limited manner, partly because he had the luxury of playing alongside Andrea Pirlo, the worldâs best deep-lying playmaker, and Clarence Seedorf, who linked midfield and attack from the left. A couple of seasons beforehand, Carlo Ancelotti would often field Rui Costa too, meaning Kaka could concentrate on playing as, effectively, a second striker. Kaka wasnât primarily about guile and invention between the lines, he was almost a goalscoring centre-forward who happened to start in slightly deeper positions, before roaring through the defence to finish.
For this game at Old Trafford, Ancelotti chaperoned Pirlo with two hard-working ball-winners in Rino Gattuso and Massimo Ambrosini, while Seedorf pushed forward to the left. Up front, Pippo Inzaghi was out injured, Ronaldo was cup-tied, and therefore it was Alberto Gilardino by himself.
Gilardino was a hugely underrated centre-forward (heâs the joint-ninth all-time Serie A goalscorer) and while he wasnât particularly prolific in 2006-07, he was excellent at making runs across the opposition defence to create space.
This was the perfect ecosystem for Kaka. The side was entirely built around his qualities. Behind him, the Brazilian could rely upon both defensive protection and passing quality. Ahead of him, he had a striker creating space. He largely had one job â collecting the ball in the final third, then sprinting in behind and finishing.
In keeping with the sense that Kaka was a centre-forward as much as an attacking midfielder, Milan started the match by launching a couple of long balls towards his head. At their first corner, they swung the ball in towards Kaka, on the penalty spot, who didnât connect properly with a headed effort, putting it wide under pressure from John OâShea. Itâs easy to forget that Kaka was 6ft 1in (taller than, for example, a âproper No 9â such as Karim Benzema) and physically strong. He was big rather than tall.
More uncharacteristically, Kaka was intent on shooting from long-range in this game.
Twelve minutes in, he collected a short pass from Seedorf and had Gilardino making a run into the channel, but tamely curled a shot at Edwin van der Sar from 35 yards. He subsequently had another effort from that same range, under pressure from two United players, which he scuffed and it trickled wide. Five minutes before half-time, he attempted a shot from even further out, which dipped and swerved before Van Der Sar unconvincingly turned it around the post. Kaka wasnât a particularly notable goalscorer from this kind of distance, and these efforts add to the sense he was using this game to demonstrate his status as the worldâs best.
In the meantime, he had already scored twice to put Milan 2-1 ahead.
His first goal was vintage Kaka: quick, efficient and devastating. He received a Seedorf pass between the lines. His first touch wasnât simply controlling the ball, but prodding it in behind the United defence. From there, his acceleration took him past Heinze with ease, before a calm, left-footed shot was placed perfectly inside the far post. It was a brilliant goal, albeit one that was striking rather than beautiful â the key ingredient here wasnât Kakaâs control or his finish, but his speed between the control and the finish.
Thatâs not to say Kaka wasnât a hugely intelligent player, too â he repeatedly collected the ball in clever pockets of space in behind Michael Carrick, and his ability to dribble while constantly surveying the options around him ensured opponents were never sure of his intentions. His preferred choice, however, was always going in behind himself.
What was his best moment?
Kakaâs second goal â infuriatingly missed on the live broadcast, as a replay was being shown â was truly spectacular.
From a long Dida ball downfield, Kaka managed to hold off Darren Fletcher and get his head to the ball, then lobbed it over Heinze. Next, with Patrice Evra rushing across to cover, Kaka nodded the ball past him, sending the Frenchman crashing into Heinze.
From there, Kaka finished smoothly past Van der Sar, and on ITVâs broadcast, Clive Tyldesley launched into one of his memorable monologues (see also Ronaldinhoâs poked effort against Chelsea in 2005) that left you convinced you were watching something special.
Hereâs Kaka, heâs seen off Fletcher⌠heâs seen off Heinze⌠itâs wonderful from Kaka! Absolutely magical! He played them on his own, and he beat them all. Kaka has struck twice in this first half⌠all his own work! Stunning goal!â
What might we have forgotten?
In light of Kaka charging inside from the left flank, beating three Manchester United players and finishing, itâs worth remembering that the home side were without Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic through injury. Of their first-choice backline, only Evra played.
More pertinently, Milan ended up losing on the night, 3-2. Wayne Rooney equalised from a brilliant Paul Scholes scoop through the defence and then scored a superb late winner when taking on an early shot from an inside-right position, bringing to mind Ronaldoâs opener in his famous Old Trafford hat-trick for Real Madrid in 2003.
What happened next?
Milan won the second leg, 3-0. Kaka opened the scoring, latching onto a Seedorf knock-down and blasting home from the edge of the box. Seedorf thumped in the second midway through the first half and Gilardino added a late third.
They subsequently defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the final. Inzaghi was the hero on the night in Athens, scoring both goals, but Kaka had won the free-kick for the first and played the assist for the second. There was no doubt he was Milanâs star man, and he finished ahead of Ronaldo and Messi by a long distance in the Ballon dâOr voting that December.
Kaka peaked at 25. He had another couple of decent seasons with Milan, but never shone at Real Madrid, for whom he signed in 2009 for a world-record fee (which barely stood for two weeks before Cristiano Ronaldo joined them too). He was playing in MLS by age 32 â Messi and Ronaldo have both won Ballons dâOr at that age.
For a period, though, Kaka was unquestionably the worldâs best â proven by this performance.
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Kaka was an immense long range striker of the ball, he hit pure and hard or he could curl it into the top corner.
The article says he wasnât noted for his long range shooting which would be false.
Djimi traore destroyed him.
Was poor auld Djimi as bad as is made out?
Youâre obsessed with Liverpool mate
Rooney scores a wonderful goal at the end of this game. Probably his best in a United shirt.
Not that night anyway - destroyed Kaka.
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