Will Kaka rise like a phoenix rise from the ashes?
Kaka
“Oooooooooooooo
Oooooooooooooooo
Siam Venuti Fin Qua
Siam Venuti Fin Qua
Per Vedere Segnare Kaka”
This passionate chant,last heard on the 31st of May 2009,will once again be heard at the San Siro ,4 full years down the line,when the prodigal son returns home,to where he truly belongs. Yes,I am talking about one Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite,better known as Kaka.
From scaling the dizziest of heights in world football with A.C Milan to hitting rock bottom with Real Madrid, Kaka has seen it all.It has been a roller coaster ride of sorts.The lad, once considered the best in the world,way ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,is facing a battle against time to restore his fallen legacy.
What started off as a decent 1st season at Real Madrid quickly turned into a nightmare for Kaka,post the World Cup 2010,when he severely aggravated an already niggling knee injury. By the time he came back from the injury in January 2011,another midfield maestro,Mesut Ozil had already cemented his role in the team with his stand out performances.
Nevertheless Kaka was never bad,he just never got enough playing time under Jose Mourinho who always preferred Ozil ahead of him. The arrival of Luka Modric in 2012 pushed him further down the Madrid pecking order. Kaka stayed on and fought bravely,like a true gladiator,but it never was to be ,for him at the Santiago Bernabeau.He did have his fair share of magical moments,those amazing nutmegs,pin point through balls and some amazing long range goals.
The long ranger against APOEL F.C in the 2011/12 Champions League quarter final is one such goal,which is still fresh in my memory. The arrival of Isco and Gareth Bale was more than enough for him to see the writing on the wall.He made the right decision to quit Real Madrid,though it would have augured well if he had quit a year before.
Now Kaka returns to the San Siro,his spiritual home. Today’s A.C Milan squad is totally different from the legendary squad he once played in. No longer will he have an Andrea Pirlo to feed him a long diagonal from the deep,nor will he have a Clarence Seedorf to pick out his runs and provide that inch perfect through ball. The days of playing alongside the clinical Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi upfront are long over.
What he gets instead,is a new , refreshed A.C Milan side,a one with energetic and vibrant players, instead of the technical maestros of the past. .Things look bright as of now, for Ricardo. With the Number 10 play maker role all his ,following Kevin Prince Boateng’s departure to Schalke 04,he has the support of the massively talented Mario Balotelli and Stephen El Shaaraway upfront.
The maestro Andrea Pirlo may be long gone ,but Riccardo Montolivo is steadily improving with time and his slick passing and through balls can definitely help Kaka,while Nigel De Jong’s hard tackling and ball retrieval will be a great supplement. In a way,it does faintly resemble the legendary 2003-2007 A.C Milan side,with Montolivo trying to drop deeper and fit into that ‘Pirlo’esque role while Nigel De Jong tries to replicate the Gattuso role. The stage is set for Ricardo Kaka to shine again,in front of his eternal admirers,the Rossoneri faithful.
Kaka may no longer have the electric pace which once made him the world’s best,but his incredible array of passing,his vision and his amazing long range shooting technique,which never got the recognition and appreciation it deserved at Madrid,can make him shine once again.
The slow nature of play in the Serie A,can only be beneficial to him at this stage of his career.Now,with everything in place for him,will Kaka once again match the days of yore, and make it to the Brazil squad for the 2014 World Cup ? Will he have that one last hurrah in his homeland? Will the phoenix rise once again from the ashes? Only time will tell .