Ronaldo targets World Cup knockout stages

Cristiano Ronaldo has his sights on the FIFA World Cup knockout stages after Portugal were drawn alongside Germany, Ghana and United States.

The Real Madrid star, who captains his country, scored all four goals as Portugal booked their spot at Brazil 2014 with a 4-2 play-off success over Sweden last month.

Paulo Bento’s men were rewarded for their progress by being handed a tough group alongside European rivals Germany, as well as Ghana and the US.

And while Ronaldo admitted that being unseeded in the draw had given Portugal a tough pool, he feels they can reach at least the last 16.

“We are going to have a very difficult group,” the 28-year-old said. “The first game will be against Germany, a fantastic team, and we try to pass the group (stage).

“After we will take it game by game but I think the priority of the national team is to pass the group and we will see what will happen after.”

The former Manchester United forward was also keen to praise the team effort involved in qualifying for the World Cup, rather than taking praise for his outstanding individual displays.

“Well, I did my job,” he added. “We had a very difficult qualification.

“We deserved to be in the World Cup in Brazil, because we played better in the two (play-off) games.”