Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has declared that he expects next summer’s World Cup in South Africa to be the best ever finals tournament and he also believes his team has what it takes to go all the way to glory.

The Real Madrid forward insisted that Portugal improved as a side as the qualification campaign evolved and he feels that they have the maturity and the experience to be world champions, but may need a little good fortune to help them on their way.

“All the great teams and all the great players will be there. In recent tournaments there were great teams, but this time will be the strongest. The teams that qualify have earned the right to be there, but this time those they are, in theory, the most powerful,” he said, as reported by AS.

“I dream of the possibility of winning a major tournament for my country, but everyone knows that because I have said so on several occasions. We were very close at Euro 2004 in Portugal. Also at the World Cup, where we finished fourth.

“Our team will be more mature in South Africa. We will be a team that went through some difficult stages in qualifying. In recent months many things have improved, a team doesn’t happen overnight.

“There are several teams that can win the World Cup and Portugal is among them. But we need good things to happen: we must work hard, we have confidence. We have the support and we can get lucky, or at least hope that the luck we have is not bad.”

Paul Madden, Goal.com