Cavani hoping to emulate class of 1950

Sport360 staff 10:40 13/06/2014
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  • Cavani stands in the shadow of legends: Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani prepares to write his own history in a picture created by adidas.

    Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani comes into the World Cup on the back of a hugely successful first season in France as he helped Paris Saint-Germain secure the Ligue 1 title. 

    The 27-year-old has become one of the most feared strikers in Europe and is now hoping to light up the world stage as Uruguay look to repeat their success of 1950 when they won the World Cup in Brazil. 

    Ahead of Uruguay's first game against Costa Rica, Cavani talks about his lethal partnership with Luis Suarez; a tough World Cup group that contains England and Italy, as well as his dream of achieving success in South America. 

    You’ve scored at a ratio of better than a goal a game this season at PSG, that must give you confidence coming into the World Cup?
    Yes, it’s been a good season for me in front of goal, but I am always confident that I can score, wherever in the world I have played. But as a forward you sometimes have a run where you can’t find the net for a few games, for whatever reason, so I’m delighted to come into this summer on good form. It’s better than being on a bad run. I’m determined to take that into the tournament and get as many as possible.

    Your strike partner Luis Suarez is also on an incredibly hot streak for Liverpool, that must help?
    Yes. Luis has been unbelievable this year, he is the best player in the Premier League this year and I’ve loved watching him. You see the way he plays and think: “he’s my teammate at the World Cup” – that gives you huge confidence. Luis is playing football joyfully, so confidently – he is scoring and he is creating chances. Hopefully we can both get a ton of goals and create chances for each other, too.

    You might even have a personal shoot-out between the two of you for the golden boot?
    That would be fun. And don’t forget Diego Forlan, either. Hopefully it wouldn’t get to the point where we’re refusing to pass to each other because we all want to win it! But the game is not about personal honours. If Luis and I can play at the very top of our abilities, we know we can give Uruguay the chance to win this tournament, and that is what we are going there to do. Our job is to finish off chances against some of the best defenders and goalkeepers in the world.

    You face England and Italy in some big group games. Is it a worry that you might not even make it to the knockout stages?
    All three teams will be worrying about that because one of us – or two of us, if Costa Rica pull off some shocks – will be going home early, and their country will be very, very upset with them. We don’t want it to be us so we need to be at our absolute best. We must focus totally and play the right game tactically.

    How much will playing in Brazil, the home of the 1950 shock Uruguay World Cup victory, spur you on?
    It is a huge thing for us. That success is one of the main stories in Uruguay, it is a glory for such a small country to defeat such a big one, a real life David against Goliath. We would love to succeed on their soil again, it is the only thing that matters to us this summer. We want them to put on a good tournament and enjoy it, but we also want to win in our rivalry with them. There is still a major rivalry between the two sides, and I think if we got to play against them in the knockout stages, the history might unnerve them a little bit. We can use that to our advantage. The only time there has been a World Cup in Brazil, Uruguay won it. Imagine if that happened twice.

    You like to tweet pictures of yourself with trophies. Will you be tweeting much this summer from @ECavaniOfficial?
    Yes, I will be doing a little bit to stay in touch with Uruguay fans and football fans all over the world. And if I can tweet a picture of myself with the World Cup, that would be the greatest tweet of all time.

    Interview comes courtesy of Adidas. 

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