Ronaldo issues World Cup warning

Ronaldo's hunger has not been diminished by chronic knee injury and he is boldly talking up Brazil's chances of claiming a fifth world title.

The upcoming World Cup finals will be Ronaldo's second, following France '98 when he was named best striker and best player of the competition.

His performance there was tainted by a lacklustre showing in the final and Ronaldo now wants to rid himself of the demons of that night at the Stade de France.

"I want to be better than in France, to play better and score more goals," said the Inter Milan striker on the club's official website, www.inter.it.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's men are currently in Kuala Lumpur making their final preparations ahead of this year's tournament, which begins in nine days time in Japan and Korea.

The South American team are in Group C, a reasonable group considering they are facing Turkey, Costa Rica and China.

"What I have learnt from my experiences in the past World Cup is that there needs to be union and trust in the team," said Ronaldo. "If one player does not help another, we will not get anywhere."

Brazil were runners-up at France '98, after being defeated by the hosts in the final.

But the Brazilians have not shown their true class in qualifying this time round, managing only a third-placed finish behind Argentina and Ecuador, and unusually are not amongst the favourites to lift the trophy.

However, Ronaldo sees this as something of a blessing.

He added: "The fact that we are not going onto the pitch as favourites is an advantage, it is a big difference."