Rio de Janeiro, Jan 9 (IANS): Fluminense defender Gum has begun 2013 by making public his desire to pull on the yellow shirt of the Brazilian national football team.

One of the star performers in the Rio de Janeiro club's league success last year, the centre-back also believes that Fluminense will be one of the favourites to lift a trophy, reports Xinhua.

"Fluminense is always one of the favourites. We were Brazilian champions in 2010 and repeated the success last year. The base of our squad is the same, we have a great coach but it counts for nothing if we don't train harder than ever," he said.

Gum has been a solid rock at the heart of Fluminense's defence for three years now. He believes that if he can continue his consistent form, he has a good chance of earning a national call-up from Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

"This (national call-up) is one of my objectives for 2013. I was very happy with how last year went. Now I want to perform even better this year to give myself the opportunity of playing for the Selecao," he said.