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Sports / Soccer
Kaka sanguine about?sitting on?bench
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-07 11:39
SAO PAULO - Brazil midfielder Kaka says he has no complaints about having
to sit on the substitutes' bench for his country, despite his rampant
success at club level.
Kaka was voted the best player in last year's Champions League after
finishing as top scorer with 10 goals on his way to helping AC Milan win
the trophy.
AC Milan's Kaka celebrates after scoring against Fiorentina during their
Italian Serie A soccer match at the San Siro stadium in Milan September
3, 2007. [AP]?
Yet when Brazil faced modest Algeria in a friendly last month, he
suffered the indignity of starting on the bench.
Kaka, however, said he agreed with coach Dunga's decision, which followed
his controversial request to skip the Copa America in Venezuela in June
and July.
"Ever since he (Dunga) took over, he has said that nobody has a
guaranteed place in the team and I think that's fair," Kaka told Reuters
in a telephone interview from Italy.
"That's how it has to be, everybody has to win his place. I think it's a
fair way to pick the team."
Kaka and Barcelona's Ronaldinho asked to sit out the Copa America in
Venezuela in June and July, saying they were tired after the long
European season.
Dunga has demanded complete dedication from his players, however.
"I was on the physical limit," said Kaka, justifying his request to skip
the tournament, which Brazil still won.
"I wasn't frustrated exactly because I'm aware of what I've achieved.
What I have done is a memory for me, a landmark in my life."
Kaka played the second half of the Algeria match, which Brazil won 2-0
and is in the squad for the friendlies against the United States in
Chicago on Sunday and against Mexico in Boston three days later.
"If the games are not in Europe, the club is not obliged to release me
but for these two friendlies I asked Milan not to create any problems
with the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) as I want to play," he
said.
CLUB CUP
Kaka said his big target this season was to win the Club World Cup which
will be held in Japan in December and where Argentina's Boca Juniors are
likely to be Milan's biggest threat.
"The world club cup is a title which is missing for me. In Brazil, we
learn as we are growing up that this is the most important title.
"Here in Europe, it doesn't have the same value as it has for we
Brazilians but my dream is to win this championship."
Kaka, the subject of recent speculation about a move to Real Madrid, said
he might leave Milan before his contract ended in 2011.
"This year at least, I will continue at Milan. But further ahead, I don't
know. I'm happy and my family have adapted to Italy but it depends on
Milan too.
"I don't want to stay in a place where neither myself nor the club are
satisfied."
Kaka said he supported the idea of Brazil hosting the 2014 World Cup, a
tournament for which the country is the only candidate.
"Brazil can only win by staging this World Cup," he said. "We have time.
A lot can happen before 2014 in terms of organisation."
Kaka, who will be 32 by then, said he had not considered whether he would
be playing in the tournament.
"I don't even know if I will take part in the next one in 2010, let alone
in 2014," he said.
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