Qatar, Mar 31 (IANS): Former Brazil international Kaka believes that since the tournament is being held within three months of the start of the European footballing calendar, players will be fresher and hence the quality of matches will be higher than usual during the FIFA World Cup 2022.
"The players will have just started the season. We will see a different World Cup with different conditions. Everything is going in that direction where I think we are going to have a lot of good and high-quality games," Kaka said in an event in Qatar.
"The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is unique in various ways. One of the major changes is that it will kick off in November, which is a shift from its usual June-July window. The first game of the tournament, involving Qatar, will be played at the Al Bayt Arena on November 21, 2022," he said in a release.
Brazil have already qualified for the footballing extravaganza and are leading the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying table with 45 points from 17 matches. They are in a rich vein of form and have won their last three matches by a four-goal margin against the likes of Paraguay, Chile, and Bolivia respectively.
Kaka has no doubt that Brazil are one of the favourites to win the coveted trophy in December. He thinks that Neymar has got what it takes to lead Brazil to glory and will be ably supported by his other teammates like Vinicius Jr, Philippe Coutinho.
"I think Brazil are one of the favourites for the World Cup. They are peaking at the right time. They beat Chile 4-0, won their last three games convincingly and one of them was without Neymar. Brazil has a strong group and this gives Neymar more potential to shine," he said in a statement.
"He is ready and more matured, experienced. He is vastly talented. I think Neymar can lead Brazil (to glory). And as I said that the whole group is strong so it gives Neymar the opportunity to shine, and he will not have all the responsibilities. He can share that with other players and then he can make a difference at any point in the game," expressed the 2002 World Cup winner.
Although Mohamed Salah failed to propel Egypt to Qatar after losing to Senegal, Kaka believes that the Liverpool forward has the potential to win the Ballon d'Or in the future.
"I think Salah is very close to that (winning the Ballon d' Or). Now it all depends on what players can do collectively. Football is a collective game. So you need to win something with your club or national team to win an individual award. So I think Salah is one of the best players in the world for sure and we hope that we can see him do a lot of good things in the future," he commented.