Kaka: the fall of a legend

Kaka’s transfer from AC Milan to Real Madrid in 2009 was something that was bound to happen as he was in such scintillating form at that time, he couldn’t stop scoring. All the big clubs were after him. So much so that earlier that year, Manchester City offered Milan a massive offer only for Kaka to turn them down.

A few days after AC Milan officialy announced his departure, Real Madrid also bought Cristiano Ronaldo. With two Ballon d’Or winners in the team, many thought that Real Madrid would be invincible. Kaka had a pretty good first season, but soon after the World Cup Kaka underwent surgery.

Real Madrid bought Mesut Ozil as a replacement for Kaka during his time out after the World Cup and the German cemented his place in the starting line up with some brilliant performances. Jose Mourinho has always favoured Ozil to Kaka in the starting line up, but whenever Kaka was given the chance, he always made an impact. When Argentine winger Di Maria got injured in 2011-12 season, Kaka got a look in.

He scored some absolutely brilliant goals and proved to the manager and world that the injuries hadn’t affected him. But when he missed a penalty against Bayern in 2011-12 Champions League semi-final, questions were raised again. Ronaldo too missed his penalty, but only Kaka was criticized and there were rumours that Kaka was planning to be shipped out and be replaced by then Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric. Modric was signed by Real Madrid in 2012-13 season but Kaka still remained.

Having performed well during pre-season, he was as usual left out when the season began. He was handed a start against Millonarios in which he scored a hat-trick and provided an assist. He declared that he was fully fit and was training hard to play in the starting eleven. Even though Ozil and Di Maria were not in the best of form, he was still left out.

He was recalled to the Brazilian national team after a 2-year absence however. He started again against Ajax in Champions League and was the man-of-the-match and also provided the assist for Benzema’s overhead kick.

It is clear that his talents are being wasted at Madrid. But Kaka being Kaka, hasn’t said anything publicly out of respect for the club even though he is frustrated. If this was Benzema or Ramos, they would have surely made a big deal out of this. His fall from grace is courtesy Real and not due to his injuries and form. Real find themselves 19 points behind Barcelona in La Liga.

Hopefully he will realize soon enough and think about moving to Milan even for regular football. A move away from Real Madrid would rejuvenate his career. If Milan do sign him, then they will have more attacking options when Barcelona come calling in the last 16 of the Champions League.