Confederations Cup - Kaka: Brazil staying humble

Eurosport - Mon, 29 Jun 09:30:00 2009

Brazilian playmaker Kaka says the squad have learnt from the mistakes they made four years ago when they won the Confederations Cup, then headed off to the World Cup in Germany expecting to win that too.

FOOTBALL 2009 Copa Confederaciones Kaká, Balón de Oro del Torneo / Foto: EFE - 0

Instead, they failed to retain the trophy they won in 2002, going out to France in the quarter-finals.

Kaka played a key role as Brazil retained the Confederations Cup with a 3-2 comeback win over the United States and although he did not score he was named Man of the Match and also won the Golden Ball as Player of the Tournament.

Asked if the success made Brazil favourites to win the World Cup next year, he replied: "Well, we have to qualify first. We have four games left and hopefully we will qualify.

"But we must avoid any unnecessary euphoria now because after we won the Confederations Cup in 2005 our celebrations were too euphoric.

"Now we must keep very calm, but when we get together as a squad and train together for an extended period, we know what we are capable of. If we do go to the World Cup as favourites, let's hope it will be justified."

No team that has won the Confederations Cup, used as a test event for the World Cup, has gone on to lift the World Cup the following year, but Kaka said Brazil obviously had a chance of coming back and doing just that.

"We have played very well here and if we do the same next year we must have a chance, but we have to keep working hard and not be carried away by this success."

According to preliminary FIFA figures, Brazil will move to the top of the their world rankings list when it is published on Wednesday, displacing Spain who have held the No.1 spot for the last year.

On Tuesday Kaka will be officially presented as a Real Madrid player for the first time following his £56 million transfer from Milan. He said he was delighted to be moving to his new club with a new trophy.

Although delighted with Brazil's win, he thought he should have been credited with a goal after an hour when his header appeared to cross the line before being caught by US keeper Tim Howard.

"It would have been fantastic to have scored a 'legal' goal he said.

"But FIFA should see what can be done to improve these situations. It would have been very important to score this goal, but we won in the end, so that is okay."

Reuters

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  1. france are useless these days (unfortunatly) so at­ least there's some hope for them in the world­ cup...

    From dodger, on Mon 29 Jun 12:19PM

  2. The excitement of trashing a referee for taking the­ wrong decision is part of the game and it should stay­ there. I think taking the referee completely out of the­ sport would eventually decrease the attendances. Maybe­ a system like the hawkeye from tennis with a limited­ number of challenges per game would be better.

    As for­ which team is better, you can't judge this from­ indirect results because teams focus and play­ differently when faced with worthy opponents.

    Spain­ deserves to be a favorite in most competitions because­ of Xavi, Inesta, Fernando Torres, Fabregas, Villa(s),­ Casillias... there is no other team with their kind and­ volume of creative ability.

    From Mihai, on Mon 29 Jun 11:09AM

  3. Spain didn't qualify for the final in the first­ place. Therefore, it would be out of place for them to­ have trashed Brazil that merited the trophy. I take­ exception to that contributor who didn't see­ anything good in Brazil, including the Kaka disallowed­ goal but only predicted their defeat in the hands of­ Spain that struggled to just overcome South Africa­ yesterday. If that contributor must be reminded, that­ same USA that was humbled by Brazil yesterday trashed­ Spain by 2-0. The problem is that most people over-rate­ Spain due largely to their victory in the last EURO­ Championship and other matches with teams definitely­ not in Brazil's calibre. At least, the current­ world Champions, Italy could attest wether Brazil is­ just that easy to be trashed by Spain as was predicted­ that the above contributor who was clearly biased in­ his contribution. One finl note, time has come for the­ use of video technology in football to avoid the recent­ poor officiating by referees.

    From amaidunama, on Mon 29 Jun 10:43AM

  4. tim howard should have got player of the tournament­ just cos usa lost ment nothing he was excellent all­ torni

    From stevo575, on Mon 29 Jun 10:14AM

  5. God Bless KAKA and all his Team, aren't they­ 'brazilian footballers' just the best in the­ world. Go on Viva Brazil for the world Cup and show the­ world the art of football again and again!

    From k.alshawk, on Mon 29 Jun 9:51AM

  6. Brizil look plain and ordinary, think spain would of­ upped there game and thrashed em if they got through,­ can't see Brazil winning the world cup at all next­ year, dont even think they'l make the semi's­ after watching them this last few weeks.

    From terri-ann, on Mon 29 Jun 9:49AM

  7. Well said Kaka... you all realize what you did back. go­ & win it.......

    From Lucky, on Mon 29 Jun 9:37AM
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