Sidney Crosby on playing Belarus at World Championship: 'We respect them'

When you have the attention of arguably the best hockey player in the world, you've done something right.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby understands that "anybody can beat anybody" and isn't overlooking Canada's opponent at the World Championship on Thursday in Belarus.

"It doesn't matter the ranking or the guys on paper. They have a lot of skill and a lot of speed," the superstar said to Carol Schram of The Canadian Press. "We respect them. We know they're a good team but we came here to move on."

Canada steamrolled through the competition on its way to an undefeated record in the opening round of the tournament, finishing first overall in Group A. Belarus finished fourth in Group B behind the U.S., Finland and Russia, shocking the group-winning Americans 5-2 on May. 7.

Crosby, who was the youngest player to win a scoring title at the World Championship in 2006 when he was just 18, has one goal in mind when the two teams square off on Thursday.

"Both teams want the same thing. We've got to go out there tomorrow and find a way to win."