Kaka led Italy's AC Milan to a 4-2 victory over Argentina's Boca Juniors in the Club World Club final yesterday.
The Brazilian set up two goals for Filippo Inzaghi and scored a wonderful solo effort to give the European champions a record fourth club world title.
"I'm really satisfied," Kaka said. "This was the only trophy I wanted that was missing and I can't put my feelings into words. I've managed to win all the trophies that I thought would be difficult to win."
PHOTO: AP
Milan avenged their penalty shootout defeat to Boca in the 2003 Toyota Cup, the forerunner to the Club World Cup.
Milan played the last 13 minutes with 10 men after Georgia defender Kakha Kaladze was sent off for a harsh tackle on Leandro Gracian.
Kaka cut in from the left and teased Jonatan Maidana before slipping the ball under goalkeeper Mauricio Caranta to put Milan 3-1 ahead in the 61st.
The Brazilian had caused similar panic in the 21st by running at the Boca defense before crossing for Inzaghi to sidefoot into an empty net for the opener.
Rodrigo Palacio equalized a minute later with a header at the near post from a cross by Claudio Morel Rodriguez.
Defender Alessandro Nesta scored a rare goal in the 50th to put Milan 2-1 ahead after Boca failed to clear a free kick from the right by Andrea Pirlo.
Inzaghi shot into an empty net in the 71st after another pass from Kaka for Milan's fourth goal.
Massimo Ambrosini scored an own goal in the 85th before Boca substitute Pablo Ledesma was sent off in the dying stages for a tackle on Kaka.
Milan previously won the club world title in 1969, 1989 and 1990.
The Serie A giants picked up US$5 million prize money for the victory and became the first European team to win the revamped competition.
Brazil's Internacional downed Barcelona 1-0 in last year's final, and Sao Paulo beat Liverpool by the same margin in 2005.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward