"That will be the hardest match of my career.
"I shall be at the game, but not on the pitch. But that is not important for the team. We have great defenders and somebody will replace me. We are not favourites, we are realistic, we know our place. But we have a chance to do something really great. Can you imagine a stronger group than Holland, Argentina and Ivory Coast? But, that's the reason for our optimism - if we get to the knockout stages, we can say that we have done something amazing. After that, anything is possible. We want to confirm our form over the last two seasons. We live for the World Cup, our countrymen do too."