Alves recently returned to his homeland to sign for Sao Paulo after spending 17 years in Europe playing for some of the world’s biggest clubs including Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain and Juventus.
Alves recently captained Brazil to Copa America glory on home soil and was named player of the tournament afterwards.
That triumph was the 40th trophy Alves has won in his football career, making him the game’s most decorated player ever.
Alves has already featured for Brazil at two World Cups in 2010 and 2014 but missed out on the last edition in Russia due to a knee injury suffered whiles playing for Paris Saint Germain in the Coupe de France final.
Speaking at his presentation as a Sao Paulo player on Tuesday, the three-time Champions League winner showed no signs of slowing down just yet and underlined his ambition to represent his country at the Mundial one last time.
'I need project solidity. I need stability sportingly speaking because I have my goals ahead,' he said.
'I need to build this story knowing all the difficulties it entails – back to Brazil, everything that involves my name, everything that people are expecting from me.
'But the dreams I have are greater than any difficulty that may exist along the way. I stress again that my goal is trying to play the World Cup 2022.
'And that means being in a club that gives me that possibility, that bet for me, that believes in my professionalism and my history in football.
'It has always been a story built with much sacrifice and effort, but with much surrender and much result.'
