USA centre Thretton Palamo has insisted that the Eagles are not at the Rugby World Cup to make up the numbers ahead of their second Pool B fixture against Scotland on Sunday.
The US have only ever won three games at the tournament and never progressed out of the pool stage. Their 2015 tournament got off to a losing start on Sunday when they fell to Samoa in Brighton.
However, Palamo is hoping that Japan's surprise victory over South Africa, also in Pool B, could inspire the Eagles to cause some upsets of their own.
"We're here to win games," Palamo told reporters. "We're over being at World Cups and just being glad to be here. We're going into every game and thinking we can win, and why not?
"Why can't we win like Japan? They've proven that anything can happen in the World Cup. Everyone runs high on emotions and conditioning is no longer an issue, it's just whoever has the most heart in a game like this because you're representing more than a team - you're representing your country."
Palamo was the youngest player to have played in a World Cup after making his debut at the age of 19 in 2007, but lost that title on Saturday when Georgia's Vasil Lobzhanidze featured against Tonga aged 18.
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