Sports moments of the week (Nov 3 - Nov 9)

Squeaky-clean soccer star's split stuns Chinese fans

The separation of Brazilian footballer Kaka and model wife Caroline Selico sent a shockwave among Chinese fans more powerful than they would ever imagine.

Chinese fans vented their frustration online, saying they couldn't believe it, after the couple issued a statement to end their nine-year marriage.

For Kaka's admirers, he represents the only saint in the realm of soccer.

Footballers' off-pitch lives are never short of tabloid tittle-tattle - expensive clubbing, sex scandals, failed marriages and extra marital relationships. But Kaka has seemed immune to those sins that have caused many a footballer's downfall.

The World Player of Year in 2007, with a self-disciplined lifestyle and clean image, he easily stood out from Brazilian compatriots who often followed a self-destructive pattern in Europe.

The Brazilian 'gang', represented by Ronaldo, Adriano and Ronaldinho, were mostly from humble backgrounds and saw soccer as their only way out.

The lucky ones could shoot to fame with elite European clubs and big paychecks followed. With sudden wealth they were not ready for they found themselves lost in decadent city life, frequenting night clubs and being caught up in casual flings.

Kaka is nothing like them. Being from a middle-class family meant he didn't need to play soccer for money.

As part of the restrained Christian lifestyle he has pursued, he doesn't go clubbing or chase women. He wed his teenage sweetheart Selico at the age of 23 and has been seen as a family man since. The duo raised a son and daughter and everything seemed as though it couldn't be more perfect.

For many fans, Kaka and Selico lived a real fairytale but now the fairytale is broken and so are their hearts.

"The fairytale deceives," was their conclusion.

Some radical fans went so far as to leave angry comments on Selico's Instagram photos she had taken with some men.

Fans seemed to be angered more by the fact that the news took away their own chance to dream rather than the failed marriage itself.