After ending Manchester United's six-year wait for a trophy with the Carabao Cup, Erik ten Hag and his squad remain in the hunt for an unprecedented Quadruple.
Victory over West Ham in the FA Cup was followed by a quarter-final draw at home to Fulham, with United favourites to win that tie and return to Wembley for the semi-finals. If United win their game in hand over Premier League leaders Arsenal, they will only be eight points behind Mikel Arteta's pacesetters, with 13 games left to play.
And in the Europa League, United will fancy their chances of overcoming Spanish side Real Betis, having avoided the likes of Juventus and Roma in the draw for the last 16. With United back among the trophies and pushing for more silverware, it feels as though the glory days are returning to Old Trafford under Ten Hag, but such success comes at a price.
If United do reach the FA Cup and Europa League finals, they will end up playing 65 matches this season, two more than Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool last season in their quest for four trophies. Against the backdrop of such a relentless fixture schedule, United's players need to be physically and mentally strong, with Ten Hag using the phrase “grinta” - meaning grit and desire – to describe the character of his players, particularly those South American members of his squad.
No-one embodies the “grinta” characteristic more than Brazil midfielder Casemiro and Argentina centre-back Lisandro Martinez, both Ten Hag signings who have been integral to this season's progress. Both players sum up the new character and resilience that has transformed United, with Brazilian midfielder Fred singling out £70million compatriot and former Real Madrid star Casemiro as a mentality game-changer.
“We have brought in players with a good mentality,” said Fred. “Now the players who were here before have changed their mentality as well. Everyone is important and now we have one way to go.
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“Casemiro won a lot of trophies in Real Madrid, he has a good mentality, in the national team as well and he’s important to be a part of our squad.
“I love to play with Casemiro. We have a good squad, in midfield and everywhere. It’s important to have a good squad, we have a lot of games. He’s a big leader, he talks a lot with us, with every player, every day. He tries to work on his English as well.
"He's a good guy, everyone knows this, and he has a good way in the dressing-room.”
Other South Americans who have impressed for United this season are wide men Antony and Alejandro Garnacho, the latter having underlined his formidable talent at the age of just 18. Argentine Garnacho was subjected to some brutal treatment from West Ham, but had the courage to get up and keep demanding the ball, his reward a sublime 90th-minute to put United ahead, with Fred applying the finishing touch to make it 3-1 in added time.
Antony may frustrate at times, with his over-reliance on his left foot, but the Brazilian has scored some key goals since his £82million move from Ajax, including the winner against Barcelona to knock them out of the Europa League and send United into the knockout stage. Marcus Rashford's career-best haul of 25 goals – with a third of the season still to play – may have seen the rejuvenated striker take a chunk of the plaudits at United this term.
But Ten Hag's South American contingent have provided the foundations upon which the Red Devils' revival has been built – with no sign of them crumbling any time soon.
