Known for his quick feet, Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo didn't hesitate to tell CNBC that his home nation would be ready for this year's World Cup.
Despite lingering questions about whether its airports, roads, trains and power system can handle the influx of visitors, Brazil will step up and take its place on the global stage, said Ronaldo (whose full name is Ronaldo LuÃs Nazário de Lima).
"For sure it's going to be ready," Ronaldo said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "For sure the stadiums are going to be ready, and you will see the best World Cup ever."
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Civil unrest in Brazil last year and a collapsed crane at the Corinthians Arena added to concerns that the emerging market would fail to meet the expectations of nations hosting one of the world's premier sporting events.
Jerome Valcke, the secretary general of soccer's governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) visited Brazil on Monday and said he doesn't expect the World Cup opener in São Paulo to be affected by construction delays.
"In a way I would say the pressure is a little bit bigger here," Valcke said at a news conference, according to AP. "It's the first game. It has to be a success. The world will be watching."
Meanwhile, Ronaldo, the two-time winner of the European Footballer of the Year, is working with the organizing committee and is one of the event's ambassadors.
(Read more: Will Brazil be ready to host the World Cup in 2014?)
Ronaldo, who hung up his cleats in 2011, told CNBC that he doesn't miss playing. He started a sports marketing firm and has teamed up with WPP, Martin Sorrell's ad giant, to appear at Davos.
"It's going well," Ronaldo said. "My agency in Brazil is going well. ... We are happy, happy to have Sorrell as [a] partner," he said.
—By CNBC.com's Matt Clinch. Follow him on Twitter @mattclinch81
