On top of the world

by Paolo Menicucci

Qualifying for the UEFA Champions League knockout stage is routine for an AC Milan side which has reached the final three times in the past five years. The 1-0 victory against Celtic FC which gave the Rossoneri top spot in Group D, however, will not be forgotten in a hurry by Rossoneri team-mates Kaká and Filippo Inzaghi.

Kaká prize
What made the match so special for them? Perhaps because Kaká was voted Man of the Match by uefa.com users and Inzaghi scored the winner. Wrong answer – that too is routine. For Kaká it was the first game since receiving the Ballon d'Or which he proudly showed to the Milan tifosi prior to kick-off. For Inzaghi that 70th-minute winner took him beyond Gerd Müller as the all-time record scorer in UEFA club competition with 63 goals.

'Great honour'
uefa.com met Kaká at Milan's Milanello training ground the day after he was awarded the Ballon d'Or which he was keeping close to his side as he entered the room. "It's a great honour to have written my name in the history of football like this," he told us. "It's a very important award in Europe, I would say the most important individual award for a footballer. Having my name included on the list of winners is really a huge honour."

Milan greats
The Brazilian international is the sixth Milan player to win the award after Gianni Rivera, Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten (three times), George Weah and Andriy Shevchenko. The ten goals Kaká scored to lead Milan to the UEFA Champions League title was the key for his individual success. "To win awards like the Ballon d'Or and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year, you have to do well in the Champions League especially in a year when there is no World Cup or European Championship. The Champions League was definitely the most important trophy last year and we won it."

Huge responsibility
Kaká will become a father for the first time next year and recently revealed plans to study theology to become an evangelical pastor. His hunger for further success on the pitch, though, is undiminished. "Getting to this level means I have the necessary quality so if I work hard I can stay at this level. It is a huge responsibility but I like it because it's a challenge. Next year I want to win all the things I won this year [again]. This is my new challenge."

'Do it again'
As for the future, Kaká is happy for more of the same. "I have always said I want to become a symbol of this club, one of the leaders and the captain, respecting the hierarchy in the team. Paolo Maldini is a great example for me. But not just him. There are several players here who have won everything but still have the same motivation to keep on winning. At 25 I have already won almost everything in my career. Now I want to do it again." Starting with the FIFA World Club Cup which Milan will contest later this month in Japan. "This is the last major trophy I'm missing and it's the same for several of my team-mates including the Italian internationals who won the World Cup last year."

Inzaghi record
Among those is Inzaghi who discussed his new record with uefa.com after the game against Celtic. Like Kaká, there is plenty more the 34-year-old hopes to achieve. "It's a great feeling especially because I did it at San Siro, in front of my own supporters. Now I'll try and keep going and keep scoring, particularly because a lot of the players chasing me in the goalscorers' charts are younger than me and will have more opportunities to catch me up."

First goal
Some players don't remember their past goals or games, not Inzaghi. You don't want to get your numbers wrong when interviewing him. He remembers all his European goals, including the first on from 28 September 1995 when his Parma FC side defeated Albania's KS Teuta 2-0. "I remember that goal clearly," he recalled. "It was an important one because it was my first game in Europe and I scored in the last minute. I don't think you ever forget your first European goal."

Athens triumph
"Obviously my favourite goals were the two I scored in Athens," he added. "There's no question about that. I'd like to thank all the clubs I have played for and my team-mates." Kaká is the man to thank for the second goal in last season's UEFA Champions League final. His perfect pass split the Liverpool FC defence and put Inzaghi through. The striker's instinct, for which he still thanks mother nature, did the rest, Inzaghi's goal sealing Milan's seventh European Cup title. With Kaká and Inzaghi in this kind of form, there are likely to be many more golden weeks to celebrate.

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