Brazilian international Kaka decided to stay in Brazil so that he could on Saturday further his physical therapy on his sore left foot.

The rest of the Brazilian national team departed on Friday night to Ecuador for Sunday's 2010 World Cup qualifier.

After returning to practice on Friday, Kaka completed his workout without any pain. However, he felt that he was not ready to make a premature return that would jeopardize his career.

Leaving the team's headquarters in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Kaka traveled to Porto Alegre to continue his physical therapy at the Beira-Rio soccer stadium.

For the past five weeks, the athlete has been sidelined with a sore left foot. Recent tests done with the national team's doctors have come out negative on any sort of visible injury. However, preferring to err on the safe side, Kaka decided that he will not play in Sunday's qualifier and preferred to stay behind with the hopes of curing his ailing foot.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2009)