Kaka Renews Until 2013

AC Milan have officially announced that Kaka has renewed his contract at the San Siro until 2013...

A terse statement released minutes ago by the club hierarchy confirms that the Brazilian will remain in the red and black for another five seasons.

The message ran:

AC Milan announces that it has extended the contract that binds Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite Kakà to the società rossonera until 30 June 2013.

Kaka, 25, signed for Milan from Sao Paolo in 2003, with almost every subsequent season bringing with it speculation of a move elsewhere, such as to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

By pledging his future to the club, both he and the Milan hierarchy will hope to silence such talk for the time being.

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Milan Targeting Premiership's Top Marksmen

The potentially career-ending injury suffered by Brazilian superstar Ronaldo has some of England's top clubs bracing themselves for an assault on their most prolific strikers.

AC Milan's forward department has become worryingly thin by elite European club standards, and their vice president Adriano Galliani has confirmed that top level reinforcement has become a primary objective.

“Now that Ronaldo is out we need a fourth striker, even though we have Pato, Gillardino and Inzaghi,” said the Rossoneri director.

"Drogba, Adebayor, Shevchenko, Benzema. All four of them would be perfect,” he added.

Milan's striker fancy does not end there, however, as they have also been heavily linked with Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) , Luca Toni (Bayern Munich) and Amauri (Palermo) even before Ronaldo's terrible misfortune.

Kaka Eyes Quater-Final

Milan’s Kaka believes a sold out San Siro will be the key to reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League.

The Rossoneri held a dominant Arsenal side to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates stadium on Wednesday night in a game which did not exactly live up to all the pre match hype.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men are now in pole position to go through. The Rossoneri have never lost at home to English opposition in this competition and so they seem favourites to progress.

“The return leg I can imagine being played in front of 80,000 fans at San Siro, above all they are our fans and with a Milan side who will surely be very aggressive,” Kaka told the Corriere dello Sport.

“Personally I have to make the most of training in the next few days as my knee is in good condition, but I still have to find a good match rhythm.

“Arsenal played good, they are a very technical team, well organised and they are capable of changing positions constantly.”

Milan will be hoping to continue their good form in Europe’s elite competition

Ronaldo: I'll Be Back Nine Months

Crocked star Ronaldo has confided to former Real Madrid team-mate Julio Baptista that he will return to the field within nine months.

Fenomeno ruptured the tendon in his knee during last week’s match with Livorno, and was forced to undergo surgery.

The striker has been told by doctors that he will be out of action for at least nine-to-twelve months, although many people believe he will be lucky if he ever plays again.

Ronaldo seems very determined to make a quicksilver recovery and is reported to have told ex-Real Madrid team-mate Julio Baptista that he is hoping to take to the field within nine months.

"I want to return to the field quickly,” said Ronaldo.

“I can do it before the nine months predicted by the doctors."

If this proved to be the case, then there is the possibility of seeing the 31-year-old in action before the end of the 2008 calendar year.

However experts believe that a more realistic comeback date will be at the beginning of the 2009/10 season.

New two-year AC Milan deal drawn up for Kalac

Zeljko Kalac has played his way to a new contract at AC Milan.

The Aussie keeper, dubbed 'Super Kalac' by the Italian press after his cleansheet at Arsenal on Wednesday night, is set to be offered new terms by Milan.

Milan chiefs are now ready to extend Kalac's deal to 2010 after the way he has performed since Dida broke down before Christmas.

Player Ratings: Arsenal - AC Milan

Arsenal and AC Milan were involved in a gripping 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium tonight in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. Carlo Garganese rates the players on show.

Milan

Kalac - 7: Did not have to pull off any real top-drawer saves but had plenty of efforts to deal with. The Aussie did not put a foot wrong and his handling and decision-making was superb.

Oddo – 7.5: Excellent. Nullified the dangerous Hleb and attacked well down the right-flank. Squandered Milan’s best chance of the match though.

Nesta - 8.0: Absolutely superb until he limped off with a groin injury. His battle with Adebayor was a joy to watch. Name me a better centre-back in world football.

Kaladze – 8.0: Rock solid as well. When the Georgian cuts out his usual one-mistake-a-game, like tonight, he is a class act.

Maldini – 9.0: He may be 39 but he played like he was 29. Looked uncomfortable at times on the left in the first half but when he switched to centre back after Nesta’s injury he was immaculate. Legend.

Ambrosini – 6.5: Battled well in the centre of midfield and did not stop running until the last minute.

Gattuso - 6.5: Fiery performance from the midfield terrier, who like Ambrosini, closed the space in between the defence and midfield.

Pirlo – 4.5: This was not the Pirlo that has delighted Calcio fans this season. Gave the ball away repeatedly, was out-muscled, and hindered rather than helped Milan. His time will surely come in the second leg.

Seedorf - 4.5: The Dutchman was also very quiet tonight. Him and Pirlo must have been sampling the London nightlife last night given their lethargic displays.

Kaka – 7.0: Quiet in the first half but was a real threat in the second, going on a number of explosive surges.

Pato - 6.0: His potential was there for everyone to see, but it is clear he still has a lot of maturing to do. Nevertheless his lightning pace meant that the Arsenal defence was scared to push up too high.

Subs: Jankulovski: 5.5, Gilardino: 6.0; Emerson N.A.

The Club

The Club
NAME	Associazione Calcio Milan s.p.a
YEAR OF FOUNDATION	1899
ADDRESS	Via Filippo Turati 3, 20121 Milano.
TELEPHONE	+39 0262281
FAX	+39 026598876
STADIUM	San Siro
Managers
President	Silvio Berlusconi
Vice Executive President and Managing Director	Adriano Galliani
Vice President	Paolo Berlusconi
Goalkeeper 1 Dida Birth date: 10/7/1973 16 Kalac Zeljko Birth date: 12/16/1972 29 Fiori Valerio Birth date: 4/27/1969 Defenders 2 Cafu Birth date: 6/7/1970 3 Maldini Paolo Birth date: 6/26/1968 4 Kaladze Kakha Birth date: 2/27/1978 13 Nesta Alessandro Birth date: 3/19/1976 17 Simic Dario Birth date: 11/12/1975 18 Jankulovski Marek Birth date: 5/9/1977 19 Favalli Giuseppe Birth date: 1/8/1972 25 Bonera Daniele Birth date: 5/31/1981 27 Serginho Birth date: 6/27/1971 31 Digao Birth date: 10/14/1985 36 Darmian Matteo Birth date: 12/2/1989 44 Oddo Massimo Birth date: 6/14/1976 Midfielders 5 Emerson Birth date: 4/4/1976 8 Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Birth date: 1/9/1978 10 Seedorf Clarence Birth date: 4/1/1976 20 Gourcuff Yoann Birth date: 7/11/1986 21 Pirlo Andrea Birth date: 5/19/1979 23 Ambrosini Massimo Birth date: 5/29/1977 32 Brocchi Cristian Birth date: 1/30/1976 34 Ba Ibrahim Birth date: 11/12/1973 Forwards 7 Pato Birth date: 9/2/1989 9 Inzaghi Filippo Birth date: 8/9/1973 11 Gilardino Alberto Birth date: 7/5/1982 22 Kaká Birth date: 4/22/1982 94 Aubameyang Willy Birth date: 2/16/1987 99 Ronaldo Birth date: 9/22/1976

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