"We're believing, and when you have a group of guys that fight for each other and dies for each other on the field, anything can happen," tutur Freese.

Kesiapan Pemain dan Catatan Pertemuan Sebelumnya

Kesiapan fisik pemain belakang Chris Richards juga menjadi fokus perhatian setelah mengalami cedera pergelangan kaki, namun sang pemain menyatakan dirinya siap berkontribusi penuh dalam pertandingan.

"I wouldn't put myself in this position if I didn't think that I could do everything," ungkap Richards.

Richards menyatakan bahwa rasa sakit adalah bagian dari olahraga profesional asalkan fungsi fisiknya tetap berjalan dengan baik untuk membendung serangan Paraguay.

"I think part of playing the sport is that you're gonna have some pain at some point, and I'm totally okay with that as long as functionally I'm good.

That's the number one thing for me," jelas Richards.

Pengalaman dari pertemuan terakhir kedua tim pada laga persahabatan November lalu juga menjadi catatan penting bagi gelandang Tim Ream, terutama tensi tinggi yang sempat terjadi di akhir pertandingan.

"At the end, there was a little bit extra," kenang Ream.

Ream menilai insiden tersebut memberikan atmosfer pertandingan yang sesungguhnya dan menjadi ujian yang sempurna menjelang kompetisi resmi bergulir.

"It had the feel of a game that meant something more, and now you look at it, and you think, 'Okay, it was a perfect test for us in that moment'.

>>> Vinicius Jr Fokus Bawa Brasil Juara Piala Dunia, Bukan Kejar Gelar Individu

It's good that we've had that experience, you come to this point, it's a World Cup.