Talk of Kaká's demise may have been greatly exaggerated.
Kaká showed he still had something left in the tank while making his first start in four matches for Orlando City SC, as he bagged a bace on Wednesday night in a 6-1 home rout of the New England Revolution. The Brazilian superstar did more than just score two goals in the lopsided affair -- he was active and dangerous throughout vs. 10-man New England -- but his best moment might have come in the 43rd minute when he found the back of the net for the first time since July 29.
On the play, Kaká collected a ball and darted forward on the dribble. He then proceeded to pick out the top right corner, seemingly with ease, firing a shot from just outside the penalty area.
Some fans and observers have recently questioned what Kaká has left to offer Orlando, but that stunning strike and his solid overall outing against New England showed he is still capable of performing at a good level.
"It was very good. An amazing goal. One of my signature, I can say that," the 35-year-old Kaká said on the post-game broadcast. "I was very happy that I could score a goal like that and help the team to win like this. Tonight we really played for pride and for our supporters. We've been facing a difficult period, but tonight I think we showed how bad we want to give some happy and fun for these supporters."
Kaká's contributions were not lost on head coach Jason Kreis. The Orlando City boss was pleased with his veteran attacker's contributions, as well as those of forward Dom Dwyer. In addition to scoring in front of the Lions' faithful for the first time this year, Dwyer set up both of Kaká's goals.
"There's no doubt about it. If you look around at the most successful teams in the league, one thing is consistent: all of their big players make big plays throughout the season," Kreis said on the post-game broadcast. "We needed those two guys to step up tonight and they both did, and a lot of guys did. My hat is off to everybody."
