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ASUNCION, March 30 (Reuters) - Brazil striker
Ronaldo has said his team will have to be prepared to make sacrifices to keep
intact their unique record of playing at every World Cup.
"This is a really difficult competition," said
Ronaldo, who is playing in the South American World Cup qualifiers for the first
time.
"Our team has always had difficulty qualifying
but we have to get over this -- if we don't, we won't go to the World Cup," he
told reporters on Tuesday, a day ahead of Brazil's match against Paraguay.
"All the games are difficult but we have to get
over the other problems -- the travelling, the tiredness, the lack of
understanding on the field."
Ronaldo played for Real Madrid at the weekend,
arrived in Asuncion on Monday and will be back in Spain in time for the
following weekend.
"For the qualifiers, everyone has to make a
sacrifice. All the players are aware of this. The players who are in Europe have
to travel a long way and, at the end, we have to get a result.
Brazil are third in the South American
qualifying group with eight points from their first four games, one less than
Paraguay who lead the group.
Ronaldo added that other teams tried harder
against Brazil.
"To play against the five-times world champions
is an incentive for anyone," he said.
Ronaldo was included Brazil's 1994 World Cup
squad as a 17-year-old but did not play in the qualifiers. Brazil, as 1994
champions, did not have to play in the 1998 qualifiers and Ronaldo missed the
2002 qualifiers because of his knee injuries. |
