Fluminense are relishing their role as the Club World Cup's underdogs ahead of Tuesday's semifinal against Chelsea, with manager Renato Gaucho embracing an "us against the world" mentality that has carried the Brazilian side to an improbable run.
The Rio de Janeiro club arrived in the United States given just a 0.05% chance of winning the title by Opta and were initially tipped to exit in the group stage.
Instead, they defied predictions by finishing second in Group F, holding Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns to draws and beating Ulsan Hyundai to advance.
The charismatic, 62-year-old Renato has transformed the club from relegation battlers to giant-killers in three months, helping them to knock out Champions League runners-up Inter Milan in the round of 16 and Al Hilal in the quarterfinals with his trademark extravagant guidance from the touchline.
"When I say we're the ugly duckling, with all due respect to all the other clubs, I'm talking about our financial situation," Renato said. "Fluminense is only 10% of the financial size of these big clubs. So these big clubs have all the resources to sign the best players."
Despite the financial disparity, Renato believes his side's attitude and concentration have been the key factors in their remarkable journey.
"What got Fluminense to the semifinals was exactly the attitude my team had on the pitch, their concentration, their focus and the hard work of the whole team," he said.
The Brazilian showman is plotting carefully for Chelsea, describing the clash at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey as "a game of chess" that will be decided by tactical discipline.
"It will be a game of patience. We will be careful," Renato said. "Of course, possession will be very important, especially at 3 p.m., which is the kickoff time. The heat is unbearable! If you have to keep running after your opponent, if you don't have possession, you wear yourself out.
"We have the utmost respect for Chelsea, but it's a game of chess. You can be sure that it will be a tight game, at least in my opinion, with few opportunities. And whoever takes advantage of all the data will certainly be the winner."
Renato said Fluminense would look to neutralise Chelsea's key players while trying to keep the ball and play their own game as they continue their fairy-tale run.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca praised Brazilian football quality ahead of facing his third Brazilian opponents, after Chelsea lost 3-1 to Flamengo in the group stage and beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
"The quality from Brazilian players is probably the top, is the best quality," he said, while again highlighting the conditioning gap between fresh South American sides and exhausted Europeans coming off the end of their club seasons. "There are two things that for me are very clear in the two games that we face [against] Brazilian teams. One is the quality, but at the same time it is very clear the energy that they have, for different reasons, and we don't.
"Top quality and also defensively, they were very good. So it will be a tough game."
Information from Reuters was used in this story.