Chapter 38: A Person as Outstanding as Me
After spending three days in Rio de Janeiro, Kaka met up with his fellow Brazilian star players Falcao and Robinho. The three discussed and experimented with applying futsal techniques to regular 11-a-side football matches.
Falcao had always planned to eventually transition from futsal to professional football. Kaka knew that if things went as expected, Falcao would likely have an unsuccessful stint playing 11-a-side soon. So Kaka wanted to help him prepare for that transition.
Although Robinho was still a young up-and-comer who had only recently become a regular starter, Kaka viewed him as one of the best examples of a player who had successfully transitioned from futsal to 11-a-side football. Robinho could offer valuable insights.
In contrast, Kaka had started in 11-a-side football but had spent recent months honing his skills on the futsal court. He felt he also had some useful perspectives to share.
The three players made some progress in their training sessions, generating good ideas, though they didn't take any major leaps forward. They discussed factors that often limit futsal players from excelling on the bigger pitch.
As professionals, they understood basic principles like the importance of physical fitness and tactical awareness. The solutions - simply train harder and better read the game - were obvious even to fans. But as the old saying goes, knowing what to do is easy, actually doing it is difficult.
Some things in life really do come down to fate and natural ability. Kaka didn't think Robinho's professional attitude and small stature made him necessarily better or more talented than Falcao. If Falcao truly applied himself with determination and had a good coach with a plan, Kaka believed he could succeed in making the difficult transition over a season or two.
Unfortunately, Falcao gave up too quickly on 11-a-side football. Since he had futsal as a fallback option that paid decent money, he chose to stay in his comfort zone rather than push himself to the highest level. From a fan's perspective, it was a waste of his talent and opportunity. But from a player's view, if you can still live comfortably, why put yourself through so much extra struggle?
Everyone marvels at Cristiano Ronaldo's discipline but criticizes Ronaldinho's lack of focus. Yet who's to say Ronaldinho didn't actually live a happier life, having fun with multiple wives even if it led him to financial troubles later? The ability to stay joyful through adversity is admirable in its own way.
...
Soon after, Kaka joined up with the Brazilian U-20 national team at their training base in the mountainous, picturesque region of Teresópolis. The temperature was around 5 degrees Celsius cooler than the lowlands of Rio de Janeiro.
The camp was preparation for the upcoming U-20 World Cup starting on June 17th. Joining Kaka was his São Paulo teammate Baptista. Although Fabiano was also young enough to qualify, he didn't receive a call-up, to the frustration of São Paulo fans who rated his talent highly.
In total, there were 19 players at camp: 2 goalkeepers, 7 defenders, 6 midfielders, and 4 forwards. While not necessarily the very best young Brazilian talents, their national team selections signified they were considered the outstanding players of their age group.
However, from Kaka's perspective, only a few of these 19 teammates would go on to have successful professional careers and become globally recognized stars - Baptista, Adriano, Maicon, Oliveira, and himself.
Most of the other players, despite their current status, would either burn out early or fail to make it at the highest level, ending their journeys in disappointment. Winning at youth levels doesn't necessarily translate to long-term success. True winners sustain that level from start to finish.
Considering his breakout season at São Paulo, Kaka expected securing a starting spot on the U-20 team would be straightforward. But he underestimated how highly the head coach Costanio rated him.
"Kaka," Costanio said, holding up the captain's armband. "You can handle this responsibility, right?"
"Of course, boss," Kaka promised solemnly, accepting the honor of being named team captain.
Kaka's response was immediate, making it seem only natural that he would lead the team given his quality. But truthfully, he was quite surprised to be named captain at such a young age.
His public persona leaned towards being humble and mild-mannered, earning him nicknames like "gentleman of the pitch." While admirable personally, such soft-spoken types rarely take on major leadership roles in the sport.
Apart from Baptista, who knew Kaka's background, the other players didn't object to his captaincy, at least not vocally. Their inner thoughts were unclear.
At age 20, even if some were locally famous, none except Adriano had achieved widespread national recognition yet. They would need to first perform well in Brazil's top professional league to earn that.
For now, each player remained somewhat of a mystery talent to the others. The sentiment was "he must be really good to make the national team" or "he must be capable to get into such a prestigious program."
In just a few months, Kaka had won two titles and played a starring role, separating himself from many national teammates who were still just role players at their club level. When it came to ability and experience, no one could dispute Kaka's qualifications for the captaincy.
A young player as outstanding as him clearly deserved to be the leader.
(End of Chapter)