Cristiano Ronaldo said he expects Portugal to finish first in their European qualifying group after his stoppage-time goal provided a 1-0 win in Denmark on Tuesday.
Portugal's campaign got off to a rough start with a home defeat to Albania, and the points against Denmark were far from secure before Ronaldo's winner.
With the victory, Portugal are third in Group I -- which has one fewer team than the other groups -- through two games. They are a point behind Albania and Denmark, though they have a game in hand on the Danes, and Albania could face repercussions after their match against Serbia was abandoned on Tuesday.
But Ronaldo is confident that Portugal are the best side in the group, which also includes Armenia.
"As I've said before, Portugal will qualify first, because our national team is the best of the bunch and we will demonstrate that on the pitch," he told TV station RTP. "I am confident that we will be in the European Championships."
As the final seconds ticked away in Ronaldo got under a cross from Ricardo Quaresma and flicked a header past the reach of Denmark keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Ronaldo and Quaresma both started their careers at the Sporting Lisbon youth system, and Portugal's all-time leading goal scorer said his familiarity with Quarsema allowed him to be in the perfect position to score.
"I know Quaresma," Ronaldo said. "I played with him for some time. He is focused and I knew more or less where the ball was going to go. And I did what I had to do."
Ronaldo's goal was his 22nd in European Championship games -- both qualifying and finals -- equalling a record held by Turkey's Hakan Sukur and Denmark's Jon Dahl Tomasson as the competition's all-time leading scorer.
"It is always good to score," Ronaldo said. "Logically, with both Real Madrid and the national team it is always rewarding to score goals. I have to work well and I am proud to be entering on to a new page."