Ronaldo scored twice in his side's 4-1 victory over Japan on Thursday to take his all-time tally to 14 goals, matching the German icon and standing one goal away of setting his own record.

"The record was an objective but not the main one," Ronaldo was quoted as saying by FIFAworldcup.com after the game.

"I still have to improve some more and in the next games I hope I can keep on scoring (because) goals bring confidence as well as winning games."

The Real Madrid man, who was the World Cup 2002 top scorer with eight goals, was under fire recently because of fitness problems and his poor season in La Liga.

Ronaldo even fueled criticism with his below-par performance in Brazil's two opening games against Croatia and Australia.

He was substituted in both games with club mate Robinho.

But the jubilant Ronaldo said he wasn't affected by criticism and stressed he is up to the challenge.

"I'm confident in my physical ability," the 30-year-old forward said.

"I wasn't in the best shape because I went 45 days without training but we followed a specific training programme and today I'm much better."

Brazil will next take on debuting Ghana, who surprisingly accompanied Italy to the round of 16 at the expense of the Czech Republic.