Kaká’s final game with Orlando City will be Sunday. (Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports)
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City SC captain Kaká announced Wednesday that he will not return to the Major League Soccer lub in 2018 after his three-year contract expires.
The Brazilian superstar made the announcement at a press conference at Orlando City Stadium, sitting alongside his longtime friends and colleagues — club majority owner Flávio Augusto da Silva and CEO Alex Leitão.
“I would like to thank you, Kaká, for your choice three years ago. We had three amazing years. We built in three years what a lot of clubs in the world haven’t been able to build in more than a century of life. You were a very important piece, element, ingredient for the success of this club,” Augusto da Silva said in a statement. “This stadium, this community, I’m absolutely sure you will never forget this community. I would like to thank you very much.”
Orlando did not immediately say what Kaká’s plans were.
Kaká, now 35, arrived in Orlando in June 2014 to a hero’s welcome at Orlando International Airport and Church Street Station in downtown Orlando. The Brazilian superstar put the then-expansion club and Orlando on the international soccer radar.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody, Flávio, Alex, for being a part of this project since the beginning. They trusted that I could be an important piece of this project and I want to say thank you,” Kaká said in a press release. “I want to thank all my teammates over these three years, coaches, staff here, everybody that works for Orlando City, the supporters and community, the press — everybody. I will be here to honor this jersey until the end, as always.”
Je made 92 appearances for the Brazil national team since 2002. He scored 29 goals the Seleção and won the 2002 World Cup and the 2005 and 2009 Confederations Cups.
His final MLS match will be against Columbus Crew SC Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. Kaká’s last match at Orlando City Stadium will be the ‘Fuerza Puerto Rico’ Friendly, a game played to raise funds for the island following the recent hurricane devastation. The match will take place at the conclusion of the season.
