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Grandmother abuse for Kaka's red card referee!

Last Updated 23 June 2010, 18:19 IST

The playmaker said his grandmother, Vera, was as upset as he was at being sent-off late in Brazil’s 3-1 victory at Soccer City Stadium on Sunday.

“I can’t repeat here what she said about the referee,” a laughing Kaka said. “She was happy with the way I played, but sad with the sending off. With all the respect she has, she launched a bit of a tirade at the referee.”

But Kaka is taking the incident as a lesson for the following matches. “It’s an uncomfortable situation. From now on I will police myself on the field because we have seen that the refereeing has been very severe,” Kaka said. “It’s up to me to police myself a little more. In such an important moment, at a World Cup, you want to avoid certain (situations).”

Kaka was sent off after receiving a contentious second yellow card in the 88th minute when Ivory Coast’s Kader Keita ran into him while going for the ball. The Brazilian dropped his elbow to protect himself and Keita fell to the ground as if being hit in the face.

Kaka said it was only his third career red card, and the first with the national team. “If I had been irresponsible, I’d be the first to come here and apologise,” Kaka said. “But that’s not what happened. It was a normal play followed by simulation.”

Kaka is disappointed he won’t be able to play on Friday against Portugal and Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. “It’s an important match and I feel for not playing in it, but that’s what happened,” Kaka said. “I’ve been talking to Cristiano frequently and the last thing he told me was that my sending-off was unfair.”

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(Published 23 June 2010, 18:06 IST)

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