@SteTudor123 looks at the Kaka vs Neymar debate and gives his take on two of the best Brazilian footballers of the modern era...


  • Kaka and Neymar have lit up the world stage across the 21st century

  • Between them, these Brazilian megastars have won 33 major honours

  • Both are magicians with the ball at their feet, but who comes out on top?


The rollcall of majestic Brazilian footballers down the years is long and esteemed, a coterie of legends that is inevitably headed by Pele, the GOAT of GOATs.

A couple of decades later came Zico, a player who was silkier than silk itself, and then later still, Ronaldo exploded onto the scene. There are many who insist ‘O Fenemeno’ was the best of all the Ronaldos, and they’re absolutely right.

Only then injuries took their toll on the former Real Madrid legend’s superpowers and ever since we have turned to two very special players for our Samba magic: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, otherwise known as Kaka.

And Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, a street footballer blessed with outrageous ability, better known as Neymar.

Between them, this exceptional duo excelled across the 21st century for some of the richest clubs in the world, amazing one and all with their flicks, tricks and stupefying goals. Between them, they have made the beautiful game even easier on the eye.

https://www.888sport.com/blog/football-prediction

With a combined 27 years spent at the very top of their sport it feels almost impossible to separate them, to pick one above the other. But hell, let’s try anyway. 

Achievements

When comparing these two colossal talents we cannot overlook a pair of elephants in the room, namely Kaka’s Ballon d’Or merit in 2007 and his involvement in Brazil’s World Cup success five years earlier. 

Put bluntly, Kaka has been voted in as the greatest player on the planet and has won a World Cup, whereas Neymar has not.

In terms of achievements therefore, the God-fearing prodigy from Gama outranks his gifted contemporary although a couple of big caveats come attached, the first being Kaka’s lack of minutes when A Selecao lifted the trophy in Korea/Japan. At the time he was an emerging superstar-in-the-making at Sao Paulo. 

Neymar World Cup 2022


As for his Ballon d’Or, though it was richly deserved – for a couple of seasons at AC Milan in the late-2000s, no-one could touch him – it’s pertinent that he was the last winner before Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi essentially took it in turns to share the award for nigh-on a generation. Neymar has twice finished third behind the supernatural pair. 

For their respective clubs, the brilliant Brazilians have won eight league titles across the top 5 European leagues plus Naymar secured three Campeonato championships in his native country before moving continents and all told, between them, they have won 33 major trophies, including one Champions League apiece 

It is Neymar who has lifted the bulk of them but still, we keep going back to those elephants. 

Styles Of Play

Genius comes in many forms and though each player was tasked with conjuring up alchemy in advanced positions for Brazil and for their clubs, their means to do this differed.

FIFA’s website sums up Kaka’s attributes perfectly, eulogising his ‘capacity to glide almost effortlessly past opponents, provide defence-splitting passes and score consistently from distance’ and the main takeaway from the above is the word ‘glide’, a verb that aptly describes Kaka’s elegant movement across a pitch that was little short of poetry in motion.

At 6ft 1, he was unusually tall for a playmaker, but this afforded him a lengthy stride that saw him so often beat a player by utilising pace and power as much as trickery. 

Neymar, by comparison, is a far more explosive kind of creative; all feints and step-overs and elaborate tricks.

Indeed, so flamboyant has been his repertoire at times – particularly during his early days at Santos – that some critics accused him of showboating. As if this was ever a bad trait from a Brazilian! 

One negative that must be raised however, is Neymar’s regular habit of exaggerating contact made with opponents. If diving was included in our betting markets the odds on Naymar doing so would be extremely short ahead of any big PSG game. 

Memorable Moments

Kaka has twice assisted in a Champions League final, the first of which has been called the greatest throughball of all time.

With AC Milan in the ascendency over Liverpool in 2005, a player then in his absolute prime allowed a strongly struck pass to flick off his heel before he spun into space.

Releasing the ball early confused the Reds back-line but it was the immaculate execution that made the neat finish by Hernan Crespo possible. It arced around the last defender, cruelly giving him hope it could be intercepted.

The Champions League betting for Milan next season has them pitched as outsiders. That would not be the case if Kaka was still around, carving out the chances. 

Kaka vs Neymar - AC Milan legend


As for Neymar, there are a multitude of reasons why he is the world’s most expensive player, signing for PSG in 2017 for an eye-watering 222m euros. 

His sublime performances for Barcelona of course stand out but we’re going with a goal scored for Santos against Flamengo in 2011, a one-man exhibition of dribbling and trickery that won him the FIFA Puskas Award that year.

Neymar received the ball on the touchline, near to the halfway line. Ten seconds later, four players trailed in his wake and the world realised that here was an uncommon talent indeed.  

Testimonials

Who better to judge this extraordinary pair than the man whose greatness they each bow to, whose achievements they aspired to match? 

In 2007, Pele called Kaka the ‘complete player’, later deeming him a ‘magician’ on his retirement in 2017. The finest footballer to ever lace up a pair of boots hugely rated the Milan and Real Madrid ace.

On Neymar, however he has previously been critical, highlighting the forward’s ‘negative image’ though it’s been comments that have come from a good place.

“A father educates his son,” he clarified, insisting they have had long talks about Neymar ‘simulating fouls’. 

Neymark incidentally is currently just three off breaking Pele’s all-time goal-scoring record for Brazil and might do so later this year with a string of internationals planned.

Check out our Today Prediction page closer to the time for the odds on this happening. 

Kaka vs Neymar - Verdict:

At their peak and in any given game, it is Neymar we lean towards, for his is an incendiary talent that can torment a defence single-handedly and determine a contest’s outcome. 

Across the long-term though it is his fellow countryman Kaka who wins out, ironically for the same reasons as above.

Because whereas Neymar shows his brilliance in flashes, Kaka measured out his genius over a career, managing to better balance his outstanding individuality with team commitments.


*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 11th June 2022

Stephen Tudor is a freelance football writer and sports enthusiast who only knows slightly less about the beautiful game than you do.

A contributor to FourFourTwo and Forbes, he is a Manchester City fan who was taken to Maine Road as a child because his grandad predicted they would one day be good.