Kaká had one of the best games of his Orlando City career on Sunday, recording one goal and two assists to power the Lions to an impressive 4-1 victory over the Portland Timbers at the Citrus Bowl.
The Brazilian Designated Player picked up the MLS Player of the Week award on Tuesday for his performance, the first of his MLS career that featured one goal and multiple assists.
Kaká’s solid play on Sunday got us thinking about some of his better performances for Orlando City. We’ve highlighted a few of his most notable MLS outings, including Sunday’s gem, below:
March 8, 2015 – History made in Orlando’s first MLS match
It wasn’t the prettiest, but none of the 60,000-plus who were at the Citrus Bowl for Orlando’s inaugural MLS match last March will ever forget Kaká’s stoppage-time equalizer in their 1-1 draw against New York City FC.
He stepped up to a free kick just outside the top of the area and hit a curler that bounced off an NYCFC defender, wrong-footed goalkeeper Josh Saunders and trickled home to make it 1-1, giving Orlando the first goal and point in their MLS history.
That moment will forever live in Lions lore, but it was far from the only meaningful portion of the match for Kaká, who finished the game with four chances created and five total shots.
March 28, 2015 – A goal and an assist at Montreal
Kaká turned in his first MLS performance featuring both a goal and an assist in Orlando’s fourth game of their expansion season, providing the helper on Pedro Ribeiro’s 29th-minute goal before scoring an excellent equalizer just a minute later in Orlando’s 2-2 draw at Montreal.
Once again, the goal and assist were part of a solid overall performance for the Brazilian international, who created four chances and fired off three shots.
May 17, 2015 – Big-time performance in blowout of LA
Never one to shy away from the big stage, Kaká turned in an excellent performance to help Orlando stop a four-game winless skid with a 4-0 blowout of the LA Galaxy at the Citrus Bowl.
He blew past a Galaxy defender and made a smart layoff to Cyle Larin to put the Lions up 2-0 in the 34th minute, then really put the game out of reach by earning and converting a penalty in the 55th that gave Orlando their first MLS home win.
September 25, 2015 – Three assists in dominant win at Red Bulls
Kaká played a leading role in one of the most surprising results of the 2015 stretch run, registering three assists in Orlando’s huge 5-2 win at eventual Supporters’ Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls.
He helped get things going in the 24th minute, curling in an excellent corner kick that Larin headed home to give Orlando the lead. Kaká kept pressing throughout the match and provided the second assist on Larin’s 43rd-minute tally before playing a lovely give-and-go with Bryan Rochez to set up the Honduran’s second-half stoppage time strike.
Kaká, who completed 32 of his 34 passes on the night, nearly scored a world-class goal of his own in the 85th minute, narrowly missing a vicious side-volley from 10 yards out.
April 4, 2016 – Picks up Player of the Week vs. Portland
You already know all about Kaká’s excellence on Sunday, when he perfectly curled a free kick into the area on Seb Hines' opener, connected on a give-and-go to setup Brek Shea for a world-class volley and slotted home from outside the box early in the second half of Orlando’s 4-1 win against Portland.
You could argue whether or not the performance was the best of Kaká’s Orlando career, but there’s no doubting that the win was one of the sweetest. The victory kept Orlando unbeaten in 2016 and vaulted the club into first place in the East.
