Ramires: Brazil must improve

Chelsea midfielder Ramires believes Brazil will need to be much improved from their 2010 FIFA World Cup performance to triumph on home soil.

The 27-year-old made his World Cup bow four years ago as Brazil were eliminated at the quarter-final stage for the second successive tournament.

Ramires is hoping the host nation can progress further this time around as they attempt to lift the trophy for the first time since 2002.

“Last time it was my first World Cup experience,” he told the official Chelsea website. “When I saw my name on the list to go for the first time, I had all these emotions, I was anxious at the time, because it shows the importance of participating in a World Cup.

“We tried to get the first game right, winning against North Korea and getting through the group before reaching the knockout stage, where if you lose you are out. We made mistakes and conceded some goals to get knocked out, and we have to improve this time.”

Ramires has since spent some time in the international wilderness, but insists he never felt unhappy as he targeted a return to the fold.

“It was hard to understand at the time why I wasn’t being called up for the period of a year,” he continued. “My name was spoken about but I didn’t go.

“I wasn’t unhappy though. When my colleagues were called up I was happy because it was a sign the coach was watching and the team was doing something right.

“There wasn’t any minute where I was unhappy, I just knew I had to keep working well for my club and the opportunity would arise again. I was patient waiting for the right time.”

Brazil have been drawn in Group A for the tournament, alongside Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon, but Ramires is looking at the bigger picture.

“It is a tough group but we can’t look just at that – the tournament as a whole will be tough,” he added. “We don’t want to just prepare for the group, we have to prepare for further than that.

“If we pass the group stages and end up winning the last game, we can analyse how it was as a whole.

“With the nation behind us, our support, and our team coming from a great Confederations Cup, where we exceeded expectations and won the tournament, we can be very confident.”