Uruguay can win it in Brazil again: Muslera

Uruguay go into their Group D opener against Costa Rica on Saturday hoping to roll back the years and win the FIFA World Cup™ for the second time on Brazilian soil.

La Celestelifted their second and last World Cup in 1950 when they pulled off a major upset and defeated hosts Brazil in the final 2-1, Fifa.com reports.

Uruguay goalkeeper

Fernando Muslera. Photo: Getty Images

believes his team has the quality to allow them to dream big.

"We have a sensational group," Muslera said. "I've never experienced such a united group. We are all friends, we all have the same objective, we all row in the same direction. We have already won a World Cup in this country and we hope we can do that again."

Expectations are high for Uruguay. They are the defending Copa America champions, finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup and also reached the semi-finals at last year's FIFA Confederations Cup.

"We want to go as far as possible," said Galatasaray keeper Muslera.

"We have the same aim as we had in South Africa four years ago, to progress from the group stages and then take it one step at a time."

However, the 27-year-old, who has represented his country since 2009, insists his team must not be over-confident.

"We want to go far but we don't want to wear the favourite tag," Muslera said. "We must be ready to deal with the hard times and the good times. Above all, we must be humble regardless of the stars that we have in the team."

Muslera believes a positive start against Costa Rica is important with tough games expected against England and Italy in their other group matches.

"We respect Costa Rica," he said. "We know it's going to be a difficult game. We have to avoid being surprised by their counter-attacks and try to make life difficult for them in midfield.

"To take three points in our opening game would give us a huge boost in confidence which is important."