Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite is a breathtaking footballer.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite is a breathtaking footballer. Never heard of him?

You may know him better as Kaka. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and his players certainly do.

Benitez has been drilling it into his team that the boy from Brazil must be stopped in the Olympic stadium tomorrow night.

Otherwise in the land of ancient Greece, Liverpool's Champions League dream will be in ruins.

Kaka has been the player of the tournament, scoring 10 goals, four of which came against Celtic and Manchester United.

In that semi-final success over the Red Devils, he showed why he and not Cristiano Ronaldo is more deserving of the best player on the planet title, even though the 25-year-old would blush at the suggestion.

Kaka is one of the most humble figures in a football world, bursting with arrogance.

But then he has come through a lot to reach this stage. When he was 18, he suffered a spine fracture, as a result of a swimming pool accident. Deeply religious, he attributes his remarkable recovery to God.

"There are many things I still have to learn," he says, when asked about his stunning level of ability.

He adds: "I want to work hard and become a better player."

When Kaka married his wife Caroline 18 months ago, Milan president Silvio Berlusconi declared he was "the husband every parent would like their daughter to have."

He is certainly the player every manager would like to have. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea would all break the bank to sign him.

Indeed Chelsea had the chance when he was leaving Sao Paulo in 2003.

Listening to his loyalty to Milan, you imagine that he won't be going anywhere for a while yet.

"I didn't pick Milan, Milan picked me. I could have joined Chelsea but they wanted to send me on loan to Russia while Milan had faith in me immediately.

"Looking back, I'm very happy with what destiny had in store for me. This club is like a family. I feel at home here which is very important to me. I have a contract with Milan until 2011 and will move only if they want to sell me."

Little chance of that if the Milan fans have anything to do with it.

They have started to arrive in Athens for tomorrow's showdown and are looking to Kaka to inspire their team to victory and a seventh European Cup.

He was well on his way to doing that in 2005 when his dancing feet and precision passing helped Milan to a 3-0 lead, before the miracle of Istanbul saw Liverpool eventually win on penalties.

Kaka scored in the shoot-out and says he would be prepared to take one again, although he hopes it doesn't come to that.

"In a final anything can happen, we know it better than anybody after that game in Istanbul," says Kaka, who was part of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning squad, although he only played 19 minutes in that tournament.

He adds: "Liverpool will probably be more difficult to face than Manchester United.

"They are very organised and have a great coach in Rafael Benitez and a great captain in Steven Gerrard. He is an excellent player. He runs, knows how to pass, cross, score goals and he is a leader on the field for Liverpool. He is a player I would like to have in my team."

Gerrard would say the same and will be well aware that he won't get his hands on the European Cup if Kaka takes control tomorrow night.

Instead the golden boy from Brazil will be running around the Olympic stadium with the most prized silver in club football.

Clipped from : http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk