 | | Brazil's Kaka celebrates his goal against Egypt during their Confederations Cup soccer match at Free State stadium in Bloemfontein June 15, 2009. [Agencies] |
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Kaka knows that he and Brazil were far below their best Monday despite a 4-3 win over Egypt in their Confederations Cup opener.
"We got the win, and that's extremely important," Kaka said. "But there still a lot to improve."
Kaka did not have one of his best matches, missing several passes and failing to create many dangerous scoring chances for Brazil. But the former world player of the year scored Brazil's first goal and the decisive penalty kick in front of 27,851 fans at Free State Stadium.
"It wasn't a great performance, I know, but at the end we got the result we needed," Kaka said.
Brazil was leading 3-1 at halftime before allowing Egypt to comeback with two goals in one minute early in the second half.
"We made some mistakes and Egypt was able to take advantage of them," Kaka said. "That cannot happen again."
Kaka said the Brazilian players were too tired from the long trip to South Africa and the recent World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Paraguay.
"We had a very good first half but then we started getting tired," the 27-year-old Kaka. "Exhaustion was a key factor."
Kaka got past three Egypt defenders inside the area to put Brazil ahead just five minutes into the match, then scored from the spot in the 90th with a firm right-footer into the lower corner after a controversial hand ball prompted the penalty.
The two goals leave Kaka one behind Spain striker Fernando Torres, the tournament's leading scorer after a hat trick against New Zealand.
Kaka made an "L" with his fingers and showed it to the cameras during the celebration of his second goal, honoring his son Lucas, whose birthday was just a couple of days ago.
The Confederations Cup is Kaka's last tournament before joining Real Madrid, which signed the former AC Milan player for $92 million on June 8.
Source: China Daily
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