Kaka holding the trophy
VESTED INTEREST
HE’S ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST
footballers. But what Kaka wants everyone to know above all else is that he belongs to Jesus.
Brazilian sensation Kaka is a committed Christian, giving a great testimony of faith as he amazes crowds with his silky skills and fantastic flair.
The AC Milan ace gained huge press coverage when his team overcame Liverpool in last year’s UEFA Champions League Final.
After scoring the winner, be ripped off his T-shirt to reveal the words ‘I belong to Jesus’ written proudly on his vest.
Kaka’s extravagant faith statements didn’t stop there, though.
After being named Fifa’s World Player of the Year in 2007, he publicly thanked God. ‘The Bible says God can give you more than you even ask for and that is what has happened in my life,’ he said.
More recently, he hit the headlines again when he announced he was donating the prestigious trophy to his home church in Brazil.
The gold-plated masterpiece is now on display in the entrance of a Sao Paulo branch of the Apostolic Reborn in Christ Church, of which Kaka is a devoted member.
‘I deliver this up joyfully to God, because he is the reason behind every victory’, reads the inscription on the trophy. Curious fans and regular churchgoers have flocked to see the trophy since it was put on display in early February.
‘There is a great deal of interest. People come in, some of them take photos,
and their admiration is plain to see,’ said a preacher at the church.
Kaka has won the admiration of anxious parents in his home nation, advocating and practising sexual abstinence before marriage.
In a rare stance for a professional footballer, he announced he was a virgin when he married Caroline Celico in 2005.
The footballer, who was born to a middle-class family in Brazil, said that he became deeply religious when he was 12 years old.
‘I learned that it is faith that decides whether something will happen or not. We can only win by being on Jesus’ side’, He added. His commitment to God was strengthened in October 2000 when he slipped on a swimming pool slide and broke a vertebra.
‘The doctors said that I was lucky to be able to walk normally,’ he said.
‘They were talking about luck and my family was talking about God. We knew that it was God’s hand that had saved me.’
In terms of declaring his faith, Kaka has been there, done it and bought the T-shirt.
He first wore his ‘I belong to Jesus’ vest when Milan won Serie A in 2004 and has ‘God is faithful’ stitched on to the tongues of his boots.
