Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz is convinced he will be ready for the World Cup finals as he fights for match sharpness.

The Manchester City striker's season has been decimated by the knee problems which caused him to undergo surgery last summer. Santa Cruz got 77 minutes under his belt in Tuesday night's 2-1 friendly defeat by the Republic of Ireland, and is confident he will regain top form.

He said: "It's one of the reasons those games are made for, to see if players who haven't played that much this season can find a bit of rhythm here."