12 February 2007 - Kaká Turns Italian

On 12 February 2007, AC Milan and Brazil star Kaká became an Italian citizen. But he continues to play for Brazil.

The midfielder joined Milan in 2003 after two seasons with São Paulo. The Italian side paid €8.5M for him and he immediately started providing dividends for them, scoring a total of 14 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions in his first year there as Milan won both the league and the Supercoppa Italiana and he was named the 2004 Serie A Player of the Year.

He got off to a strong start at the beginning of the  2006-07 season, which would ultimately result in him winning the 2007 Ballon d'Or. In the middle of the season, he applied for Italian citizenship, which was granted and made official in a private ceremony on 12 February.

The move was not intended to alter his international status, as he was already locked into playing for Brazil and ineligible to play for Italy. (He also maintained his Brazilian citizenship). Instead, the move allowed Milan to claim him as a European Union player for UEFA quotas, opening up a spot in the team for a non-EU player. After the ceremony, Kaká said "It is an honor. Now I both Italian and Brazilian. I am very happy. This helps not only me, but also Milan."

He remained with Milan until June 2009, when he joined Real Madrid. In 2014, he moved the the US and played for Orlando City until his retirement in 2017.

31 August 2007 - Sevilla Can't Be Super A Second Time

On 31 August 2007, AC Milan spoiled Sevilla's bid to repeat as Super Cup champions, beating the Spanish side 3-1 in Monaco.

Sevilla, as winners of the UEFA Cup in 2005, played their first Super Cup in 2006, beating the reigning Champions League winners Barcelona 0-3. They won the UEFA Cup again in 2006 to set up their 2007 meeting with that year's Champions League winners, AC Milan.

Playing before a crowd of 17,822 at the Stade Louis II, Sevilla staked their claim with a 14th-minute goal from Brazilian playmaker Renato. The score resulted from a corner kick that Renato headed down to the feet of Milan keeper Dida, who misjudged the bounce and allowed the ball to get past him into the net. Despite pressure from Milan at the other end, particularly from striker Pippo Inzaghi, Sevilla still held the 0-1 lead at the break.

Shortly after the restart, however, Inzaghi headed the equalizer home (55') and Milan claimed the lead seven minutes later with a thundering volley from left back Marek Jankulovski to the far post (62'). Milan sealed the win in the 87th minute after Sevilla left back Ivica Dragutinović conceded a penalty with a tackle from behind on Madrid striker Kaká, who dutifully converted the kick to stretch the margin of victory to 3-1.

7 May 2011 - A Tip Of The Hat For Ronaldo

On 7 May 2011, Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo scored one of the fastest hat-tricks in club history as they beat Sevilla 2-6.

The match came on the heels of Madrid's loss to Zaragoza, which kept them eight points behind league leaders Barcelona with four matches remaining, so they had something to prove. Sevilla were no pushovers, sitting in the table's sixth spot, but they were no match for Madrid on the day.

Playing at Sevilla's Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, the visitors were already up 0-3 at the break with goals from Sergio Ramos (21'), Ronaldo (31'), and Kaká (42'). Sevilla striker Álvaro Negredo scored first in the second half (61'), but then Ronaldo delivered his record-breaking performance.

In the 65th minute, he intercepted a pass at the top of the Sevilla box, beat one defender, then fired the ball past the keeper from close range. Five minutes later, he beat the keeper again from inside the box after a pass beat Sevilla's offside trap. In the 75th minute, he latched on to a long cross and volleyed the ball home from just  a few feet away. In all, the three goals encompassed a span of just over 10 minutes, two minutes shy of the club record of 8 minutes, set by Pepillo in April 1960 against Real Sociedad.

The flurry extended Madrid's lead to 1-6, though Negredo scored once more to end the day at 2-6. In an unusual coincidence, Madrid duplicated the scoreline in their next visit to the  Sánchez Pizjuán in December 2012 with three more goals from Ronaldo.

Ronaldo subsequently matched Pepillo's record with an 8-minute hat-trick against Granada in April 2015.

4 December 2009 - Maybe The Goalkeepers Spoke A Bit Too Soon

On 4 December 2009, Adidas introduced their controversial new match ball for the 2010 World Cup, the Jabulani.

Named after the Zulu word for "celebrate," the ball was made from eight spherically molded panels and had a textured surface designed to improve its aerodynamics. The result was unpredictable flight behavior which drew heavy criticism from several players. Goalkeepers were particularly unhappy, including Brazil's Julio Cesar, who called it a "supermarket ball," Spain's Iker Casillas, who said it was "horrible," and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, who said it was "absolutely inadequate."

Predictably, players contracted to Adidas provided more favorable reviews, including such high-profile stars as Kaká ("just great"), Michael Ballack ("fantastic"), and Frank Lampard ("very strong").

The overall effect appeared to be a reduction in goalscoring, as the tournament had only 145 goals, the fewest of any World Cup since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998.

1 December 2009 - The Ballon d'Or Gets Messi

On 1 December 2009, Lionel Messi capped an amazing year by winning the Ballon d'Or as the world's best footballer. And he did by a record margin of votes.

A panel of sports journalists from around the world voted on the award, which had previously been limited to players from European clubs, but expanded in 2007 to include footballers from anywhere in the world.

The award came on the heels of Messi's incredible run with Barcelona in 2008-09 in which the Catalan club won a staggering total of six trophies--La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. Messi was one of four players from that team to finish in the voters' top five--the others were Xavi (3rd), Andrés Iniesta (4th), and Samuel Eto'o (5th), who had since moved to Inter in the summer of 2009.

The second-place finisher was Cristiano Ronaldo, who had won the award over Messi in 2008. In 2009, Messi finished with 473 out of a possible 480 first-place votes, more than doubling Ronaldo's total that year of 233 votes and setting a record separation of 240 votes between first and second place. The previous record was 167, set in 2007 when voting expanded to accommodate the award's new global scope. Cristiano Ronaldo had finished second that year to future Real Madrid teammate Kaká.

In 2010, the Ballon d'Or merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Messi won that award in 2010, 2011, and 2012, with Ronaldo winning it in 2013 and 2014.

23 May 2007 - Milan's Lucky Number 7

On 23 May 2007, AC Milan won their seventh European Cup/Champions League trophy, beating Liverpool 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens in a rematch of the 2005 Final.

It was a dramatic finish for Milan, who had earlier been barred from competing in the tournament as a result of their involvement in the Serie A match-fixing scandal of 2005-06. But on appeal, the Italian football association allowed Milan to enter the competition in the third qualifying round, rather than directly into the group stage.

Both Liverpool and Milan won their groups, but faced difficult roads to the Final. Milan beat Celtic (1-0 agg.), Bayern Munich (4-2 agg.), and Manchester United (5-3 agg.) on their way to the Olympic Stadium, while Liverpool advanced over Barcelona (2-2 agg. - Liverpool won on away goals), PSV (4-0 agg.), and Chelsea (on penalties, 1-1 (4-1)).

Despite having two of the tournament's top scorers - Milan's Kaká had a tournament-high 10 goals going into the Final, while Liverpool's Peter Crouch was tied for third with 6 goals - the defenses held strong through most of the first half (Crouch didn't come on until the second half). Milan striker Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi broke the deadlock with a controversial 45th-minute goal that appeared to deflect off of his arm past keeper Pepe Reina.

Liverpool pressed for an equalizer in the second half, but were unable to beat Milan's goalkeeper, Dida. Inzaghi then scored a second goal in the 82nd minute. The match appeared to be won, but Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt made sure the last few minutes were exciting when he found the net in 89th minute. Liverpool could not muster a second, however, and the match ended as a 2-1 Milan win.

17 December 2007 - Yet Another Brazilian Hat-Trick

On 17 December 2007, FIFA presented its World Player of the Year awards. It was a sweep for Brazil, with Kaká and Marta named World Player of the Year and Women's World Player of the Year, respectively. It was the first--and to date only--time a single nation claimed both awards.

Earlier that year, Kaká led AC Milan to the 2006-07 Champions League title, finishing as the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals. Marta, meanwhile, had helped her club, Swedish side Umeå IK, claim a double, winning both the league and the Swedish Cup. She also led them to that year's UEFA Women's Cup Final, where they lost to Arsenal LFC, 1-0.

The 2007 award was the second consecutive Player of the Year award for Marta, who won it a third time in 2008.

Brazil walked away with a total of three honors, as FIFA conferred the 2007 Presidential Award on Pelé for his years of service to the game.

27 June 2006 - This Ronaldo Played For Real Madrid, Too

On 27 June 2006, Brazilian striker Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima scored in a World Cup match against Ghana. It was Ronaldo's 15th World Cup goal, breaking the previous record of 14 which had been set in 1974 by West German striker Gerhard "Gerd" Müller.

Ronaldo had already netted twice in the group stages of the tournament and was widely tipped to score the record-breaking goal in the Round of 16 against Ghana. Few predicted the speed with which he would score it, however. In the 5th minute, Brazilian midfielder/forward Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite ("Kaká") threaded a pass through to Ronaldo, leaving him one-on-one against the Ghanian keeper. Ronaldo sent the keeper the wrong way, slipped past him and prodded the ball into the empty net.

The goal also set another record - with his third of the tournament, Ronaldo joined German striker Jürgen Klinsmann as the only two people to score at least three goals in three separate World Cups.

Brazil went on to defeat Ghana 3-0, but lost to France 0-1 in the quarterfinals.

28 January 2008 - A Record That Will Never Be Broken

On 28 January 2008, Francesco Totti was named Italian Footballer of the Year for a record fifth time.

The Italian Footballers' Association ("AIC") first announced the honor in 1997, along with additional superlatives including Best Serie A Footballer and Best Foreign Footballer. While the first award went to Sampdoria's Roberto Mancini, Totti was the recipient for 2000, in the middle of Roma's title-winning season, then again in 2001, 2003, and 2004.

Roma finished as runners-up to Inter in 2007 and won the Coppa Italia, due in large part to Totti, who ended the season as the league's top scorer with 26 goals (32 in all competitions). In 2007-08, they were again chasing Inter Milan for the Scudetto, sitting in second at the winter break, seven points behind the defending champions. (Roma eventually finished in second again, but closed the gap to three points in the final table).

The combined performance across both seasons led to Totti receiving the award for a fifth time, when no other player has received it more than twice (Christian Vieri in 1999 and 2002, then Alessandro del Piero in 1998 and 2008), though Milan's Kaká was named 2007 Serie A Footballer of the Year award.

In 2013, the AIC changed the format of their annual awards and no longer name an Italian Footballer of the Year or the other specific honors. Instead, they have a general Footballer of the Year award, claimed by Andrea Pirlo for 2013.

13 January 2008 - A Glimpse Of What Could Have Been

On 13 January 2008, Ronaldo scored his last two goals in European club competition as Milan beat Napoli 5-2.

The striker, who started his career in Brazil with Cruzeiro from 1993, moved to Europe in 1994 to play for PSV. He spent two seasons there, followed by stints with Barcelona (1996-97), Inter Milan (1997-2002), and Real Madrid (2002-06) before joining AC Milan in the summer of 2006. Along the way, he scored a total of 271 goals in Europe through the 2006-07 season, winning a European Golden Boot (1997) and two Ballons d'Or (1997, 2002).

By the 2007-08 season, however, injuries and weight problems limited his playing time and effectiveness, holding him to six appearances and only two goals. Both of those goals came against Napoli (15', 46'), as he combined with his Brazilian compatriots Kaká (68') and Alexandre Pato (74') to dismantle the visiting side. (Clarence Seedorf provided the remaining goal (31')).

Unfortunately for Ronaldo and Milan, he suffered a season-ending knee injury one month later against Livorno, making those two goals against Napoli his only competitive scores of the season. Milan then released him that summer.

The injury was potentially career-ending, but he underwent a successful rehabilitation and returned to the pitch in March 2009 for Corinthians and remained with the club until his retirement in February 2011.

22 April 1982 - He Really Didn't Merit That Nickname

 On 22 April 1982, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaká, was born in Gama, Brazil. He went on to win the Ballon d'Or and World Player of the Year award in 2007.

An attacking midfielder, he started his career with São Paulo, joining their youth academy in 1994, then signing with the club as a professional in 2001. He remained there for a little over two seasons, making 59 league appearances and scoring 23 goals. That attracted the interest of AC Milan, who signed him in the summer of 2003 for a transfer fee of €8.5 million.

An accomplished provider of assists in addition to goals, Kaká helped Milan to the league title in his first season there. In 2005, they reached the Champions League final, but lost to Liverpool. Both teams returned to the final in 2007, with Milan winning 2-1. Kaká was the tournament's top scorer. Later that year, Milan won the Club World Cup and Kaká claimed the Ballon d'Or and the World Footballer of the Year award.

In the summer of 2009, he moved to Real Madrid for a transfer fee of €68.5 million, an amount that, at the time, was the second-highest in history after the €76 million Real Madrid paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001. (It dropped to third after the club signed Cristiano Ronaldo for €94 million in later in the summer of 2009).

At Madrid, has battled through injuries, but has still made made over 80 appearances there and helped them win the league title in 2012.

12 February 2007 - Kaká Turns Italian

On 12 February 2007, AC Milan and Brazil star Kaká became an Italian citizen. But he continues to play for Brazil.

The midfielder joined Milan in 2003 after two seasons with São Paulo. The Italian side paid €8.5M for him and he immediately started providing dividends for them, scoring a total of 14 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions in his first year there as Milan won both the league and the Supercoppa Italiana and he was named the 2004 Serie A Player of the Year.

He got off to a strong start at the beginning of the  2006-07 season, which would ultimately result in him winning the 2007 Ballon d'Or. In the middle of the season, he applied for Italian citizenship, which was granted and made official in a private ceremony on 12 February.

The move was not intended to alter his international status, as he was already locked into playing for Brazil and ineligible to play for Italy. (He also maintained his Brazilian citizenship). Instead, the move allowed Milan to claim him as a European Union player for UEFA quotas, opening up a spot in the team for a non-EU player. After the ceremony, Kaká said "It is an honor. Now I both Italian and Brazilian. I am very happy. This helps not only me, but also Milan."

He remained with Milan until June 2009, when he moved to Real Madrid, his current club, in a deal worth €68.5M.

31 August 2007 - Sevilla Can't Be Super A Second Time

On 31 August 2007, AC Milan spoiled Sevilla's bid to repeat as Super Cup champions, beating the Spanish side 3-1 in Monaco.

Sevilla, as winners of the UEFA Cup in 2005, played their first Super Cup in 2006, beating the reigning Champions League winners Barcelona 0-3. They won the UEFA Cup again in 2006 to set up their 2007 meeting with that year's Champions League winners, AC Milan.

Playing before a crowd of 17,822 at the Stade Louis II, Sevilla staked their claim with a 14th-minute goal from Brazilian playmaker Renato. The score resulted from a corner kick that Renato headed down to the feet of Milan keeper Dida, who misjudged the bounce and allowed the ball to get past him into the net. Despite pressure from Milan at the other end, particularly from striker Pippo Inzaghi, Sevilla still held the 0-1 lead at the break.

Shortly after the restart, however, Inzaghi headed the equalizer home (55') and Milan claimed the lead seven minutes later with a thundering volley from left back Marek Jankulovski to the far post (62'). Milan sealed the win in the 87th minute after Sevilla left back Ivica Dragutinović conceded a penalty with a tackle from behind on Madrid striker Kaká, who dutifully converted the kick to stretch the margin of victory to 3-1.

7 May 2011 - A Tip Of The Hat For Ronaldo

On 7 May 2011, Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo scored the fastest hat-trick in club history as they beat Sevilla 2-6.

The match came on the heels of Madrid's loss to Zaragoza, which kept them eight points behind league leaders Barcelona with four matches remaining, so they had something to prove. Sevilla were no pushovers, sitting in the table's sixth spot, but they were no match for Madrid on the day.

Playing at Sevilla's Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, the visitors were already up 0-3 at the break with goals from Sergio Ramos (21'), Ronaldo (31'), and Kaká (42'). Sevilla striker Álvaro Negredo scored first in the second half (61'), but then Ronaldo delivered his record-breaking performance.

In the 65th minute, he intercepted a pass at the top of the Sevilla box, beat one defender, then fired the ball past the keeper from close range. Five minutes later, he beat the keeper again from inside the box after a pass beat Sevilla's offside trap. In the 75th minute, he latched on to a long cross and volleyed the ball home from just  a few feet away. In all, the three goals encompassed a span of just over 10 minutes, beating the previous club record of 26 minutes, 56 seconds (set by Ronaldo against Málaga two months earlier).

The flurry extended Madrid's lead to 1-6, though Negredo scored once more to end the day at 2-6. In an unusual coincidence, Madrid duplicated the scoreline in their next visit to the  Sánchez Pizjuán in December 2012 with three more goals from Ronaldo.

27 July 2007 - Clearly, I Am In The Wrong Business

On 27 July 2007, Chelsea captain John Terry became the highest-paid player in Premier League history. For a while, anyway.

The Blues had just completed a three-year run in which they won the league twice (2005, 2006), then finished as runners-up to Manchester United (2007). They also won the FA Cup and the League Cup in 2007. Terry, who was also the England captain at the time, had two years remaining on his existing contract that paid him a reported £67,000 per week, well behind teammates Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, who were both earning close to £120,000.

Terry's contract negotiations dragged out over a couple of months, but the defender maintained throughout that he had no intention of leaving the club. In July, Chelsea rewarded his loyalty with a new five-year deal that paid him close to £135,000 per week to surpass the record previously held by Ballack and Shevchenko. But Terry's status as the league's best-paid player did not last long. In August 2008, Chelsea signed midfielder Frank Lampard to a new deal worth £140,000 per week (which triggered an increase in Terry's pay to the same level). Even then, they both were well behind AC Milan midfielder Kaká and Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, both of earned close to £166,000 per week.

In 2010, Manchester United smashed the Premier League record by signing Wayne Rooney to a 5-year deal worth a reported £250,000 per week.

4 December 2009 - Maybe The Goalkeepers Spoke A Bit Too Soon

On 4 December 2009, Adidas introduced their controversial new match ball for the 2010 World Cup, the Jabulani.

Named after the Zulu word for "celebrate," the ball was made from eight spherically molded panels and had a textured surface designed to improve its aerodynamics. The result was unpredictable flight behavior which drew heavy criticism from several players. Goalkeepers were particularly unhappy, including Brazil's Julio Cesar, who called it a "supermarket ball," Spain's Iker Casillas, who said it was "horrible," and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, who said it was "absolutely inadequate."

Predictably, players contracted to Adidas provided more favorable reviews, including such high-profile stars as Kaká ("just great"), Michael Ballack ("fantastic"), and Frank Lampard ("very strong").

The overall effect appeared to be a reduction in goalscoring, as the tournament had only 145 goals, the fewest of any World Cup since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998.

1 December 2009 - The Ballon d'Or Gets Messi

On 1 December 2009, Lionel Messi capped an amazing year by winning the Ballon d'Or as the world's best footballer. And he did by a record margin of votes.

A panel of sports journalists from around the world voted on the award, which had previously been limited to players from European clubs, but expanded in 2007 to include footballers from anywhere in the world.

The award came on the heels of Messi's incredible run with Barcelona in 2008-09 in which the Catalan club won a staggering total of six trophies--La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. Messi was one of four players from that team to finish in the voters' top five--the others were Xavi (3rd), Andrés Iniesta (4th), and Samuel Eto'o (5th), who had since moved to Inter in the summer of 2009.

The second-place finisher was Cristiano Ronaldo, who had won the award over Messi in 2008. In 2009, Messi finished with 473 out of a possible 480 first-place votes, more than doubling Ronaldo's total that year of 233 votes and setting a record separation of 240 votes between first and second place. The previous record was 167, set in 2007 when voting expanded to accommodate the award's new global scope. Cristiano Ronaldo had finished second that year to future Real Madrid teammate Kaká .

23 May 2007 - Milan's Lucky Number 7

On 23 May 2007, AC Milan won their seventh European Cup/Champions League trophy, beating Liverpool 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens in a rematch of the 2005 Final.

It was a dramatic finish for Milan, who had earlier been barred from competing in the tournament as a result of their involvement in the Serie A match-fixing scandal of 2005-06. But on appeal, the Italian football association allowed Milan to enter the competition in the third qualifying round, rather than directly into the group stage.

Both Liverpool and Milan won their groups, but faced difficult roads to the Final. Milan beat Celtic (1-0 agg.), Bayern Munich (4-2 agg.), and Manchester United (5-3 agg.) on their way to the Olympic Stadium, while Liverpool advanced over Barcelona (2-2 agg. - Liverpool won on away goals), PSV (4-0 agg.), and Chelsea (on penalties, 1-1 (4-1)).

Despite having two of the tournament's top scorers - Milan's Kaká had a tournament-high 10 goals going into the Final, while Liverpool's Peter Crouch was tied for third with 6 goals - the defenses held strong through most of the first half (Crouch didn't come on until the second half). Milan striker Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi broke the deadlock with a controversial 45th-minute goal that appeared to deflect off of his arm past keeper Pepe Reina.

Liverpool pressed for an equalizer in the second half, but were unable to beat Milan's goalkeeper, Dida. Inzaghi then scored a second goal in the 82nd minute. The match appeared to be won, but Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt made sure the last few minutes were exciting when he found the net in 89th minute. Liverpool could not muster a second, however, and the match ended as a 2-1 Milan win.

17 December 2007 - Yet Another Brazilian Hat-Trick

On 17 December 2007, FIFA presented its World Player of the Year awards. It was a sweep for Brazil, with Kaká and Marta named World Player of the Year and Women's World Player of the Year, respectively. It was the first--and to date only--time a single nation claimed both awards.

Earlier that year, Kaká led AC Milan to the 2006-07 Champions League title, finishing as the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals. Marta, meanwhile, had helped her club, Swedish side Umeå IK, claim a double, winning both the league and the Swedish Cup. She also led them to that year's UEFA Women's Cup Final, where they lost to Arsenal LFC, 1-0.

The 2007 award was the second consecutive Player of the Year award for Marta, who won it a third time in 2008.

Brazil walked away with a total of three honors, as FIFA conferred the 2007 Presidential Award on Pelé for his years of service to the game.

27 June 2006 - This Ronaldo Played For Real Madrid, Too

On 27 June 2006, Brazilian striker Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima scored in a World Cup match against Ghana. It was Ronaldo's 15th World Cup goal, breaking the previous record of 14 which had been set in 1974 by West German striker Gerhard "Gerd" Müller.

Ronaldo had already netted twice in the group stages of the tournament and was widely tipped to score the record-breaking goal in the Round of 16 against Ghana. Few predicted the speed with which he would score it, however. In the 5th minute, Brazilian midfielder/forward Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite ("Kaká") threaded a pass through to Ronaldo, leaving him one-on-one against the Ghanian keeper. Ronaldo sent the keeper the wrong way, slipped past him and prodded the ball into the empty net.

The goal also set another record - with his third of the tournament, Ronaldo joined German striker Jürgen Klinsmann as the only two people to score at least three goals in three separate World Cups.

Brazil went on to defeat Ghana 3-0, but lost to France 0-1 in the quarterfinals.