On Thursday, when Brazil kick off their World Cup campaign against Serbia, Liverpool’s Alisson Becker will be in goal for the tournament favourites having rightly enshrined himself as his nation’s consensus top shot stopper.

For the 30-year-old Novo Hamburgo native, it’s a chance to help Brazil win its first title since 2002 and to help right the wrongs of 2018, when the Seleção fell to Belgium in the quarter finals in a widely criticised performance.

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“We are confident, but we have a few players that played in the World Cup in 2018,” Alisson noted. “We know how difficult it is to be there. Each opponent you have in front of you has quality, desire, and passion.

“You don’t have space to make mistakes. You have to be perfect if you want to win. But we trust in our quality. We feel even stronger when we put the yellow shirt on, so we are going to go there full of desire and passion.”

Alisson’s experience in 2018 will undoubtedly help with handling the pressure of the situation and Brazil’s favoured status—and also perhaps for enjoying the chance to represent his country on the biggest stage.

“I am really looking forward to it,” he added. “It will be my second World Cup. It’s something amazing, nothing compares to being there on that stage playing for your national team, singing the national anthem. It’s indescribable.

“It’s a great feeling having my family there around me, together, supporting me. It’s a dream, a kid’s dream come true.”