RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Former world player of the year Kaka said today that while Brazil’s current first choice strikers bear no comparison to former greats like Romario and Ronaldo, they are good enough to win Brazil’s sixth World Cup.
“Those two, Romario and Ronaldo are from a different level, but Fred and Jo are not bad. Fred has had a slow start to the World Cup, but he picked it up in the last game,” said the 32-year-old AC Milan midfielder, who narrowly missed out on selection for the Brazil squad.
“Remember Fred had a great 2013 Confederations Cup,” he said. “Later in the tournament, I think he will be a very important player for us.”
Speaking on the eve of Brazil’s Round of 16 match against Chile, Kaka urged his former teammates to forget previous World Cup meetings with their South American neighbour. “Chile is a very different team to the one in South Africa. A lot more of their squad are playing in Europe and they have a lot of experienced players,” he told a news conference.
Brazil beat Chile 3-0 in the 2010 World Cup to maintain a record of having knocked out La Roja in every tournament in which they have made it through to the knockout stages.
If Brazil do make it past Chile, Kaka pinpointed Colombia and France, a “team which is growing into the tournament”, as sides to watch out for.
However, the man with 87 international caps sees the biggest threat to a Brazil win coming from Germany.
“They are so dangerous. I think they will probably reach the final. Brazil v Germany is the final I want to see.”
