Injured Kaka eager to play again for Madrid

Kaka can’t wait to start playing again for Spanish giants Real Madrid, he has told the club’s official website.

“I am dying to play again. It is very difficult going to watch the matches because I want to participate and help in a direct way,” he said in an interview published on Friday.

The 28-year-old Brazil midfielder will be out of action until at least late November due to a controversial injury to his left knee.

On August 6 he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left meniscus, the second operation on the left knee within three years. What was controversial about the injury is that Kaka had not told Real that he had pain in the knee before going off to play for Brazil in the World Cup.

He performed poorly in South Africa — as Brazil crashed out in the quarterfinals — but should not really have been there at all, according to Marc Martens, the Belgian specialist who carried out the August operation.

“As soon as I saw him I could tell it was serious. His career was in serious danger,” Martens told sports daily Marca last month.

“He started playing with some niggling injuries and ended up with unbearable pains I understand that it (the World Cup) is a special competition and that there was pressure for him to play, but he pushed himself much too hard. He told me that he had been in a lot of pain.”

Martens added that “it could have finished his career because it’s a very serious injury — it could have destroyed him.”

Real paid AC Milan around 68 million euros (86.43 million dollars) in June 2009 for Kaka, making him the third most expensive player in football history.

He is clearly worried about the prospect of becoming one of the worst signings in Real history. The whites have replaced him with young playmakers Mesut Oezil and Sergio Canales, but Kaka is determined to regain his place in the team.

He is working six hours a day to get fit, and cannot wait to rejoin the squad in full training.

“It is my hands to play again and do it well,” he said. “Now I don’t have any pain in the knee. I am starting to smile again.” Kaka said people came up to him on the street to wish him well.

“That helps me a lot, it gives me motivation. The best way for me to repay this affection is to work hard in order to return as soon as possible,” he said.