Pepe to Realmadrid.com
Pepe is ready to appear at the Bernabeu again after a long absence. Now that he has recovered, the defender is anxious to help the team this season.
"I can't wait to play at the Bernabeu again"
You recovered from your injury and rejoined the team last week. Are you ready to face Osasuna?
I feel fine and anxious to step onto the pitch and help the team. I can’t wait to play at the Bernabeu again. It is very important to me.
What would you like to say to the fans, who have always supported you?
I can’t express my gratitude with words. I think the best I can do to correspond them is to do my job on the pitch and help Real Madrid. By helping the Club I help each and every one of them. I can show them I feel fine and that I’m capable of doing my job. I wish to thank them for all their support.
The team will fight for the first three points at stake at the stadium…
We always try to win, but it isn’t possible all the time. It is our duty to do a good job and fight to the end to take three points. That’s what we’ll do.
What will you have to do to defend against Osasuna’s Pandiani and Aranda?
They are strong strikers. They like to fight hard. Osasuna have a good squad and a strong coach. They’ve been doing a good job. We have to try to control the pace to our games from the start.
What would you highlight about Mourinho’s Real Madrid?
Mourinho is different. He stands out in many things. He is a very good coach, like the rest who have been on this team, but this is a new era both for him and for us. This is a good experience for all. Being able to coach Real Madrid is like a reward for his career. We all want the best for the Club and we will prove we can win our games.
The Champions League kicks-off on Wednesday. What can you tell us about your first three opponents, Milan, Ajax and Auxerre?
We are in a complicated group, but we are all equals. We have good enough players to confront these teams. We will do a great job and we will thrill our fans.
Ze Brand Kaka
Sidelined (forever)
With rumors going about that Real Madrid will be selling Kaka in January, the club has decided to promote the brand that they bought for £56million from the other side of Milan last season – Kaka.
Kaka was brought in from Milan as a part of the new project and was Don Florentino’s first signing after his heroic comeback as the President of Real Madrid. By buying a player who had had a torrid injury plagued season, Senor Perez was indeed taking a risk. The former World Player of the Year and Balon d’Or winner does indeed have all the credibility to play for a club like ours, but that alone is not enough, is it?
Kaka’s injury worries only compounded following his move from Italy to Spain. He was coming into a newly built Real Madrid squad after a tremendous show in the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa in which he won the Gold Medal with his national side. Being the main entity of his side Kaka spearheaded Brazil through the tournament raising hopes of thousands of Madridistas that Milan were only being foolish to sell a player of such quality. But that’s when things started to change. Even though the player got himself into the score-sheet via a penalty in a league game against Villareal his performances weren’t up to the benchmark that he had set for himself. Then came the twin legs against his former employers and despite playing both the legs and trying his best, Kaka failed to impress. His best game for us till date, though in a losing cause, came against our eternal Catalan rivals away from home and that’s when the whole Sports Hernia issue cropped up. Real accused Milan of selling an injured player whereas the rest said that the joke was on Real as they had earlier sold Sneijder and Robben as a part of accommodating Kaka. Rafael van der Vaart too would have paved way if not for his resilience.
Kaka did not play until the return leg against Lyon at home which we drew 1-1 thus getting knocked out of the competition. And immediately Kaka was injured again and would not play until towards the end of the season at La Rosaleda against Zaragoza. He came on as a substitute and scored the winner keeping us in the title race – his most important goal for us till date.
He was then included in Brazil’s squad for the World Cup and after getting knocked out by the losing finalists – The Netherlands – Kaka was injured again, this time the left knee for which he needed surgery that would rule him out for up to 4 months.
A week after the surgery, the player had began an intense phase of rehab that requires almost six hours of work each day. The club’s official website today says that though it is still a long way out, the Brazilian midfielder is poised to make a comeback stronger than ever. The article went on to describe what Kaka does every day from the moment he enters the Valdebebas till he leaves stating that the player just cannot wait to play again.
The club’s medical team consisting of Juan Carlos Hernandez and Carlos Diez too are happy with the progress Kaka’s knee is making saying that the recovery not only concentrates on his knee but also on his groin which is as trouble making as the other. Like school teachers, they commended Kaka’s performance…
Kaka is very meticulous with his work. He likes to tackle things within the deadline and it is a pleasure to work with him. He always wants to work more and we have to rein him in to avoid him making things that could be detrimental.
They went on to say that even if it takes a year for him to comeback they would take the recovery process step by step and not rush him into playing:
We want to be careful because this is the second operation he’s had on that knee. It would be a mistake on our part to force his re-entry in the team if the isn’t 100% fit to play. After healing the knee we have to heal the groin, which more or less indirectly affects the entire recovery process. We are very satisfied with the progress he’s making.
If that doesn’t rule out the sale of Kaka, nothing else would. Why would any club want to make a player of Kaka’s class 100% fit in order to sell him to a competitor club?
An Italian newspaper had claimed on Wednesday that the Nerazzurri were hoping to bring Kaka to the San Siro from Real Madrid in January. But President Moratti insists the idea of signing the midfielder, who formerly played for Inter’s fierce local rivals AC Milan, did not stem from his club.
I read about it in this morning’s papers. It’s a wonderful idea, but it doesn’t come from us.
Sure it didn’t come from him. Massimo, as much as he buys, does not buy players by their brand value but by their potential. Real though are different. We at least were until last season. Kaka, I feel, was merely brought because of the brand name that he carried. Several years from now we can say that the legendary Kaka was a Madridista. But how successful was he? That remains a question mark.
Kaka to Realmadrid.com
Despite the fact that Kaka is living out some of the greyer days of his career, the Brazilian midfielder is slowly starting to smile again. He feels little discomfort in his knee and he is as anxious as ever to return to the pitch for Real Madrid.
"I work very hard to return the support shown by fans, my team-mates and the club"
How do you feel?
My knee doesn’t hurt any more. It has been a month since I had surgery and everything is going well. I spend many hours doing physiotherapy, which is helping me a lot.
It looks like you are starting to smile again after a month of hard work.
Yes, mainly because my knee is getting better, which makes me happy. I am anxious to get back to work.
Your team-mates’ support has being very important to you.
The squad has been helping a lot. You saw Cristiano Ronaldo come joke around with me, but there are many other players who have dealt with similar injuries and who I talk to frequently. I thank all of them for the support they have shown.
The only thing you have thought about since your operation on 5 August has been working hard to rejoin the squad.
I asked the doctors how long I would need to recover and play again. They said it depends on me and my progress. I am committed to doing everything I can to recover as soon as possible and return to work.
Do you feel everything is going according to plan and that soon you can rejoin the squad? The doctors say sometimes they have to drain the fluid from your knee…
I am following the doctors’ and physiotherapists’ instructions. It is true I sometimes would like to do a bit more because I really want to start working with the team again. I know many things depend on me and I am going to do everything I can to recover.
You must be thinking about playing again at the Bernabeu.
I can’t wait to start playing again. It is very hard to watch games because I really want to join my team on the pitch and help my team-mates in a more direct way. However, I have to be patient because I still have a lot of work to do off the field.
Just another Madridista
Junta speak