RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Kaka was immortalized in Maracana's sidewalk of fame on Tuesday.

The Brazil midfielder left his footprints in a section dedicated to the memory of the country's top players.

"Maracana has a great history," Kaka said. "As a football player, to be part of this memorial, to be part of Maracana, it is a great pride."

The AC Milan player's name is next to former all-star Zico. Other stars who left their footprints in the sidewalk of fame include Pele, Romario, Zagallo, Dunga and Franz Beckenbauer.

Maracana once was the world's largest football stadium and accommodated more than 180,000 fans, but reforms have shrunk its capacity to about 70,000. It hosted the 1950 World Cup final, when Brazil was upset by Uruguay.

Another Brazilian expected to be honored on Tuesday was Robinho, for his unique dribble in the team's 5-0 rout of Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier last year. A series of photos of the dribble, in which he used several nifty moves to fool a defender and set up Elano's goal, will be put on display at the stadium.

Brazil, coming off a 4-0 victory over Venezuela on Sunday, faces Colombia on Wednesday at Maracana. The five-time world champion is second in South American qualifying, behind leader Paraguay. The top four nations will automatically qualify.

Good for our Golden Boy! Thanks for posting and sharing the news, Warchant!

pictures

They are going to honor Robinho there because of some kind of dribble, but haven't put Ronaldinho yet?

And Ronaldo (R99) for that matter too!

Exactly. Surely Ronaldo was a bigger phenomena than magico Kaka.

That's football for you! Neither to be understood, nor comprehended what goes in the world of football.

Thanks for the info and the pics guys !!

Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo should be there ahead of Kaka. Congrats to our lad though!

I don't think Robinho is going to leave his footprint there is he? It's just the gallery with the dribble (... ...) isn't it?

Exactly. Another name who should be right up there along with Ronaldo and Carlo is Cafu, so often his services are forgotten. There are other equally good players both from his era and earlier, but the name Cafu deserves to be sitting alongside the likes of Pele, Zico, Romario, and - wait for it - Dunga!

Maybe they wanted Ronaldo's footprints but he didn't? I mean, why would they even think twice about having his footprints on Maracana's sidewalk of fame? he's for many Brazil's greatest ever player.

^^

Bah....Socrates...with a name like that..

What is that?

We could be all talking bull as the article only mentions some of the names that appear on the sidewalk:


I could not find a complete list. If anyone finds it please post it here...

I think that's Porty's specialty, dst.



I can't imagine a stadium as big as that no matter how hard I try! 180,000 spectators

Most of them were standing, not seating!

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=8mRdTGuJfXk

Do your magic, Port. Let's see whether they've got the likes of Ronaldo, Cafu and Carlos there or not!

From Milan's official site:



Don't know how accurate it is but it does say Ronaldo...

This is the official site of the stadium: Link!

There are a bunch of names listed on the front page... could it be the list we're looking for? It's in (Brazilian) Portuguese... Porty?

He speaks Portuguese as well as you speak Latin bro. He might speak better Catalonian.

Saim venuti fin qua, siam venuti fin qua, per vedere segnare KAKA!!!!!!!!!!!!! ooooooo ooooooo He deserves it, Freakin Amazing, Golden Boy KAKA!!! FORZA MILAN Y FORZA KAKA.....
I found a link that does show Ronaldo (The world's greatest striker of all time) "Il Fenomeno"'s footprints there as well as many other historic players like KAKA pele, zico, jarizinho, didi, even Falcao.
This is the link http://flickr.com/photos/22551294@N08/2913...n/pool-raite666

Welcome speedemon. I used to love the Michael Jackson song when I was a kid.

Thanks for the link, speedemon.

What made you guys think Ronaldo's footprints are not there??

That was decades ago, right? MJ, the 80s, unlimited soft drinks, cheeky video games, weird clothing, etc.

A little yellow bird flew to me, and whispered it in my ear! True story.

^^

Was that before or after he pooped on your face?

I think it was somewhere right in between that, um, incident. Or you know, the middle, yeah, while she was um disclosing the secret Ronaldo fact.