Kaká was Messi before Messi.
He was a global icon who was lured to an expansion team in an emerging league to help grow soccer in this country.
Kaká, as I wrote when he signed with Orlando City a decade ago, was a purple-clad pied piper of the pitch.
“I understood that MLS had a great future and I wanted to be part of helping to grow something,” Kaká said Wednesday in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. “When you see how far this league has come in the 10 years since then, I am proud that I was a part of evolution.”
Kaká helping blaze the trail for an international icon like Lionel Messi to join MLS is one of the many reasons Orlando City will honor Kaká after Saturday night’s game at Inter&Co Stadium by making him the first inductee into the team’s Legends’ Terrace hall of fame.
I don’t know if there was any debate about who should be the inaugural inductee, but there shouldn’t have been. I guess a case could have been made for the team’s co-founders Phil Rawlins and Kay Rawlins or the team’s popular inaugural coach Adrian Heath, but Kaká was the obvious and right choice.
“Kaká’s impact on the game, not just here in the City Beautiful but throughout the global soccer landscape, is one that will be felt for a very long time,” Orlando City chairman Mark Wilf said.
Translation: Before MLS had Messi Mania, it had Kaká Krazieness.
Like Messi at Inter Miami, when Kaká signed with Orlando City, he became the highest paid player in MLS at $7 million per year and then helped legitimize the league by giving an expansion franchise some gravitas. Kaká had been a World Cup champion for his native Brazil, a European Champions League winner, and a FIFA World Player of the Year who had played for some of the world’s most storied franchises — AC Milan, Real Madrid and Sao Paulo.
Suddenly, here he was in our midst — in the fledgling soccer city of Orlando — even though some of those closest to him told him not to come.
“I remember a lot of people saying to me, ‘No, don’t do it. They don’t like soccer in America. They like sports with lots of scoring and sports that don’t end in ties.’ I’m glad I didn’t listen. I believed we could help grow the sport in this country and spread the good values that come with it.”
And he did just that. When he touched down in Central Florida, he was greeted by a huge crowd and a drum corps at Orlando International Airport. He was a beautiful man who played the beautiful game. With his movie-star good looks and his massive social media following (he was the first athlete to ever have 10 million Twitter followers), Kaká singlehandedly put Orlando City on the international soccer map.
And it started in Orlando City’s inaugural match against New York City FC when Kaká scored the dramatic game-tying goal in the dying minutes to salvage a 1-1 draw in front of a sellout crowd of 62,510 who’d crammed into the Citrus Bowl.
“I’ve scored a lot of goals in my career,” Kaká said at the time, “but I have to say this is one of the most emotional.”
Orlando’s huge Brazilian population flocked to the stadium to see him play, as did tourists from all over the world. Even though the team never made the playoffs during his three seasons, the Lions were near the top of the league in attendance for all three years.
He attracted a diverse array of fans — from the die-hard soccer fanatics to the sport’s curious newbies. His name alone drew eyeballs and attention. He gave Orlando instant credibility and helped turn us into an international soccer destination that now regularly attracts some of the most storied clubs in the world to play in front of sellout crowds at Camping World Stadium.
Kaká became a one-man marketing machine for Orlando City. He sold tickets; he sold jerseys; he sold an entire southern football city on the concept that it was cool to be a soccer fan. In the dreary depths of the Magic’s decade-long rebuild, Orlando fell in love with Kaká and Orlando City.
You see, all we had ever known were star athletes (see Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard) who wanted to leave Orlando, yet Kaká actually wanted to come to Orlando. He wasn’t just an athlete, he was a beacon of hope for a city that had been used and abused by superstars of the past.
“Most of the clubs I played for [AC Milan, Real Madrid etc.] were centenary clubs with a lot of history and tradition,” Kaká says now. “Coming to Orlando was exciting for me because it was the first time I got a chance to see something being built from scratch — from nothing.”
To make it even better, he went about his business with style, grace and class. He never did anything to embarrass the club, the fans or his family. A man of strong faith, he exuded humility and philanthropy. Even though he was a multi-millionaire global star, he connected with Joe and Minnie Sixpack and the other everyday fans.
Who will ever forget the time when Kaká was serving a one-game suspension after getting a controversial red card in the previous match? Instead of just watching the game from the sideline, he decided he wanted to serve the suspension while standing with Orlando City’s supporters on The Wall. At one point, he even manned a snare drum and helped lead the drumline.
“I wanted to see and feel what our supporters feel during the game and to better understand what their situation is,” Kaká said at the time.
Kaká may have retired seven years ago, but his influence still echoes in every drum beat, chant and cheer emanating from The Wall. At his retirement announcement, former club CEO Alex Leitao said, “Orlando City is a small, little kid — 3 years old — and Kaká was always there helping us to stand up and learn to walk. Now, somehow, we will have to learn to do this without him.”
And so they have. Since Kaká’s retirement, Orlando City has certainly progressed as a franchise, been sold to more deep-pocketed owners, won a trophy (the U.S. Open Cup) and made the playoffs four straight seasons.
But, still, there will be a massive pang of nostalgia when the great Kaká enters the Legends’ Terrace on Saturday night.
Yes, Orlando City has learned to walk since Kaká left town, but his footprints will always be there; forever embedded on the franchise’s path to achieve greatness.
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen
