Sao Paulo:
Kaka says Brazil will have to be extra focused during its preparation for the 2010 World Cup if it wants to have a shot at winning its sixth world title next year in South Africa.
The Real Madrid playmaker said Brazil needs to take advantage of the practice time it will have just before football's biggest showcase gets under way next June.
"We will need to use the two weeks we will have before the World Cup to practice properly, to gain tranquility and to think about getting focused," he told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper in its weekend edition. "It's going to be key for the team to arrive with winning chances."
He said there is a need to avoid the off-field issues that many blamed for the team's early departure from the 2006 World Cup, when it fell to France in the quarterfinals.
The team's preparation in the lakeside resort town in Weggis, Switzerland, was marked by a partying atmosphere that players say was detrimental to the team's focus.
"Many things can happen during a competition and we can win or lose," Kaka said. "But if we prepare well, we will be able to arrive with a lot of strength."
Kaka said he believes Brazil is in the toughest World Cup group, along with Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea. He said Portugal will likely give the Brazilians the hardest time.
"Portugal is the most difficult team among our first opponents," he said. "They are a group of special athletes. They will fight for the title."
Kaka will likely face Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, a meeting he said will be "special."
With Kaka as one of the team's most experienced players, Brazil will debut in Group G against North Korea in Johannesburg. It then faces Ivory Coast on June 20, also in Johannesburg, and closes the group against Portugal five days later in Durban.
Brazil won the World Cup in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.