Kaka cards a problem for Brazil

Brazilian Coach Dunga admitted Kaka’s flurry of yellow cards was giving him concern, as five-time world champions Brazil charged into the quarter-finals at the World Cup.

The former world player of the year picked up his third booking of the tournament as Brazil eliminated Chile 3-0 in the last-16. Kaka, in his first outing back from a one-match suspension for his red card against Ivory Coast, went into the referee’s book before he was brought off with nine minutes left.

Coach Dunga admitted Kaka’s run of yellow cards at the World Cup was troubling.

“Yes, it’s a problem, I don’t want Kaka to be suspended, the technical players are punished and those who commit fouls aren’t,” said Dunga. “We’re going to talk to Kaka about this, we don’t want to get bogged down on the issue of yellow cards.”

The Brazilians were upset that Kaka was sent off in his last match for what they deemed a light push on the Ivorian Abdelkader Keita, who collapsed theatrically to the ground.

Playmaker Kaka has been slowly finding his form at the World Cup after he was dogged by a thigh injury in his first season since joining Real Madrid from AC Milan last summer. The Real Madrid star was largely a peripheral figure against Chile before he provided the final pass for striker Luis Fabiano’s goal in the 38th minute.

Ominously, though, Dunga warned that confidence among his squad was increasing with every match. ‘We know there’s always this expectation that Brazil will be the winners but being the favourite does not allow you to win the World Cup.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2010.