Boys from Brazil ready for next challenge

Winger Antony scored in his first three Premier League matches after joining from Ajax, while Casemiro was eased into the side and has shown the superb form he displayed so consistently at Real Madrid in recent games, culminating in the stoppage-time equaliser at Chelsea last weekend.

The pair have already endeared themselves to the United supporters and admit they are feeling the affection from within the club as well.

"Firstly, I'm really happy to be wearing such an important shirt and sharing the day to day in the dressing room with great players and other Brazilians as well," Antony told club media in the exclusive interview.

"I'm going to start studying English. I can understand things and will get there little by little.

"The most important thing now is being on the pitch and doing well."

Casemiro has also picked words and phrases up and has illustrated already that there is no language barrier when it comes to performing out on the pitch.

"With the basics, we can manage on the pitch," he said. "I think, in football, it's the ball. The ball does the talking. The most important thing is our team-mates and adapting here at the club.

"The club has been a great help, it's a really friendly place and they've taken a lot of care with us.

"That's the most important thing," added the midfielder. "We've felt at home from the very first day.  As Antony said [about learning English], it's difficult, and we'll be studying, as learning the language is very important.

"The club, our team-mates and the coaching staff have always made us feel at home."

Both players have key games on the radar with the Reds before participating in the World Cup finals in Qatar for Brazil.

"My first call up to the Selecao was this year so it's a wonderful experience for me," explained Antony. "I've always dreamed of putting on the Brazil shirt, today I can live that dream leading up to a World Cup.

"Putting on the national-team shirt, representing your country and your family is very important to me. I hope to be putting it on more and more and make history with the Brazilian national team."

Casemiro accepts Brazil are many people's favourites to lift the trophy later this year but knows how hard it will be to come out on top in the tournament.

"There are two sides to it," he said. "Of course, there's no hiding from the fact Brazil are favourites but the favourites don't always win in football, the favourites aren't always champions.

"We know there are other national teams doing some great work, teams that are also favourites. Football, nowadays, speaks for itself. We know there are other teams playing very well.

"We know our responsibility, we know we have to respect the teams we come up against. It's inevitable when we talk about Brazil, though we do this with our feet on the ground and a lot of respect for our opponents."