The former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder Kaka has announced that he is retiring from football.
It was much more than I could ever imagined. Thank you! I'm now ready for the next journey. In Jesus name. Amen," the devout 35-year old Brazilian wrote on Twitter.
Kaka announced this year he would not extend his contract with Orlando City but he opened the door to a possible return to Milan, the club where he made his name.
Kaka in action for the MLS All Stars against Real Madrid in August. Photo: Photosport
"I would like to participate in the club in another way, as a manager, a sporting director, as someone who is between the pitch and the club," he said in a farewell interview with Globo TV in Brazil.
"I prepared very hard to be a professional footballer and I want to prepare for this new role."
He said Milan, with whom he won the Champions League in 2007, had offered him a role but did not specify the exact nature of the job or say if he would accept it.
Milan and his first team Sao Paulo both offered him a playing contract to extend his career, but Kaka, who was in Brazil's World Cup-winning squad in 2002 and was the last Brazilian to be voted world player of the year in 2007, said the time was right to call it a day.
His Ballon d'Or win a decade ago was the last before Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi began their 10-year duopoly on the award.
-Reuters