The Real Madrid midfielder has stated that he is looking forward to facing strong teams in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Uruguay are in Group H with Ghana, Portugal and South Korea. The South American giants will face Ghana on December 2 in the final round of matches for the group stage.
Speaking in an interview with DirectTV Sports Valverde said: “The more difficult the group, the better.” “We need to face a strong team.”
“As Uruguayans, we enjoy the challenge, and we have the weapon to be the hero if we believe,” Valverde added.
Uruguay won the World Cup twice, in 1930 and 1950. However, the best result since then has been a semi-finals appearance in 2010, when they defeated Ghana on controversial terms in the quarter-finals.
They were eliminated in the quarterfinals four years ago in Russia, but Valverde believes Uruguay can go further in Qatar.
He first said, “The coach Diego Alonso (Uruguay national team) said, ‘We can be world champions and the dream is there.”
“We believe we can achieve beautiful things. We may not be able to, but our goal is to leave a mark,” he added. “On the pitch, anything can happen and you have to think big.”