THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Robinho thinks he needs to do more to help Brazil win a sixth World Cup title.
Despite playing well and scoring his first World Cup goal in the 3-0 second-round win over Chile on Monday, the striker says he is still not at his best and wants to improve for the final stages of the tournament in South Africa.
"I’m happy for the goal," the Santos striker said. "But I think I could’ve played better, I know I have to play better."
Brazil advanced to the quarter-finals of the World Cup with the victory over Chile and now will face the Netherlands on Friday in Port Elizabeth.
Robinho was key for Brazil at Ellis Park Stadium, involved in the attack that gave Brazil its second goal through striker Luis Fabiano in the 38th minute, and then scoring himself with a well-placed shot from the edge of the area in the 59th. Selected as player of the match by FIFA, he also had a goal correctly disallowed for offside in the 77th.
Robinho said he didn’t even think he’d deserved the award, and said other Brazilian players could’ve been given the honour on Monday.
The goal was important, though, and should give him confidence for the next matches.
"The tendency now is to get better," Robinho said. "After that first goal, it usually gets easier to score more."
Brazilian teammate Kaka said the entire group had been anxious to see Robinho get on the board for the first time.
"Everybody was happy with his first goal in the World Cup," Kaka said.
Robinho had played well in Brazil’s first two matches, providing assists in the team’s 2-1 win over North Korea and in the 3-1 victory over Ivory Coast. He didn’t play in the 0-0 draw against Portugal in the final Group G match as a precaution because of a minor left thigh problem.
Robinho also said he was not totally satisfied with how Brazil played against the Chileans even though it was the team’s best performance at the World Cup so far.
"It was a good match," he said. "But … we cannot be completely happy, we always need to try to improve."
The goal was Robinho’s seventh in Brazil’s past six matches against Chile, and the eighth overall against the South American rival, allowing him to join Brazil great Pele as the Brazilian with most goals against the Chileans.
"You can’t compare anyone with Pele," the 26-year-old Robinho said. "But I’m happy that I get lucky every time I play against Chile."
Robinho arrived at the World Cup as one of Brazil’s biggest stars along with Kaka. He was a member of the Brazilian team that fell to France in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but played only a few minutes of that match.
Robinho is playing with Brazilian club Santos on loan from Manchester City, where he failed to live up to expectations after a British-record signing from Spain’s Real Madrid. The striker says he wants to stay in Brazil after the World Cup is over, but acknowledges that his future is yet to be decided.
For now, he says his focus is only on the World Cup.
"My only goal is to help Brazil win the world title," Robinho said. "It’s going to be a difficult match against the Netherlands, but I’m confident and we are prepared."