Salvador (Brazil), June 11: Spain captain Iker Casillas believes his side are favourites to win the FIFA World Cup which kicks off Thursday.

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Spain have travelled to Brazil as the reigning World Champions, after their success in South Africa four years ago, and also as reigning European Champions. Should they win here, they will complete the incredible feat of winning two consecutive European and World Cup crowns each, reports Xinhua.

Some have raised doubts about the lack of strikers in Spain's squad and the poor form of some key players. But Casillas, who himself had a difficult campaign and was second choice for Real Madrid in La Liga, is confident of a repeat triumph.

"Spain travel to the World Cup as absolute favourites. We know it will be hard to win as there are a lot of teams which are playing football very well such as Germany, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil and Holland, who will also see themselves as favourites," said the goalkeeper who hailed the spirit of his teammates.

"We are a team of players who like big challenges and are excited to be able to try and repeat out success."

IANS