Nicknames have always been an important part of football lore. Edson Arantes do Nascimento (埃德森·阿兰蒂斯·多·纳西门托) would never have rolled off the tongue so readily as Pele (贝利，上学时，一个伙伴管他叫“贝利”，由于这个词的发音在葡萄牙语中像是婴儿的喃喃呓语，一度还惹得他不高兴，但若干年后，这个名字传遍了世界，并常和伟大一起连用。当然，1970年世界杯后，英国《星期日时报》又用大标题的形式赋予了这个名字另一种写法：“贝利如何拼写？G-O-D(上帝)！”) did after the teenage Brazilian became a household name following his exploits at the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. Over the next few weeks, there should be several more monikers etched into the global consciousness and FIFA.com takes a look at some of the players who could be making their names in South Africa, literally so.

All eyes will be on Argentina ace Lionel Andres Messi (里奥内尔·安德雷斯·梅西) to see if he can inspire La Albiceleste to their first world crown since Mexico 1986. Football reporters have been running out of words to describe the improbably gifted Barcelona wizard, and should La Pulga (The Flea) turn it on in South Africa, he will no doubt have them – along with bemused defenders – scratching their heads again.

Messi is far from the only player whose nickname comes from the natural world. Mexico goalkeeper Oscar Perez (奥斯卡·佩雷斯) is known as El Conejo (The Rabbit), while Honduras striker David Suazo (大卫·苏亚佐) goes by the title of La Pantera (The Panther), a tribute to his predatory instincts. Italy's Gennaro Gattuso (格纳罗·加图索) has never been afraid to throw his weight around on the pitch, which explains why fans call him Il Rino (The Rhino). No less imposing a presence is Brazil’s Julio Baptista (朱利·奥巴普蒂斯塔), otherwise known as La Bestia (The Beast), although all these denizens of the animal kingdom have reason to fear ‘The Hunter', aka Klaas Jan Huntelaar (克拉斯·扬·亨特拉尔), the front man hoping to shoot the Netherlands to success.

Argentine tradition

Like Messi, most Argentinian players acquire a nom de guerre or two during the course of their careers. With El Apache, Carlos Tevez (卡洛斯·特维斯) would not be out of place in a western, while Gabriel Heinze's (加布里埃尔·海因策) German ancestry has led to him being dubbed El Gringo. Juan Sebastian Veron (胡安·塞巴斯蒂安·贝隆) takes after his father Juan Roman in more ways than one: following in the footsteps of La Bruja (The Witch), the midfield sorcerer has been casting spells under the name of La Brujita (The Little Witch) for many years now. Gonzalo ‘El Pipita' Higuain (冈萨洛·伊瓜因), meanwhile, is another chip off the old block. His father Jorge went by the name of ‘El Pipa', Argentinian slang for nose.

Team captain Javier Mascherano's (哈维尔·马斯切拉诺) leadership qualities are reflected in his title of ‘El Jefecito' (The Little Leader), the original ‘Jefe' being his mentor, the River Plate (河床) legend Leonardo Astrada. If that were not enough, Argentina can also call on the regal presence of Diego ‘El Principe' Milito (迭戈·米利托) and their very own madman in Martin ‘El Loco' Palermo (马丁·帕勒莫).

England are relying on the superhuman powers of the player dubbed by their media as ‘Captain Fantastic', one Steven Gerrard (斯蒂文·杰拉德). His fellow Liverpudlian and international team-mate Wayne Rooney (韦恩·鲁尼 ) is known as Wazza in the dressing room in deliberate homage to Paul Gascoigne's (保罗·加斯科因) moniker ‘Gazza'. He is also called ‘The White Pele' for his barnstorming displays on the pitch.

Spain are investing their hopes in a pair of ‘kids': Fernando ‘El Ni~no' Torres (费尔南多·托雷斯：圣婴(厄尔尼诺)) and David ‘El Guaje' Villa (大卫·比利亚: 葫芦娃).

Australia will be looking for some inspiration from their resident magician Harry Kewell (哈里·科威尔), also known as ‘Harry Potter' or ‘The Wizard of Oz'.

Portugal have a conjuror of their own in Deco (德科), or O Mágico to his fans and team-mates.

Cartoon character

There is no shortage of sobriquets elsewhere. Uruguay’s long-haired hitman Diego Forlan (迭戈·弗兰) bears more than a passing resemblance to the well-known Argentinian cartoon character ‘Cachavacha', hence his unusual moniker, while Robinho’s penchant for stepovers make him an obvious choice as ‘O Rei Das Pedaladas' back in Brazil.

USA midfielder Clint Dempsey (克林特·登普西) moonlights as hip-hop artist ‘Deuce' in his free time and he could make quite a double act with team-mate DaMarcus Beasely, dubbed ‘Jitterbug' for his dancing skills.

Adding a sense of majesty to the world finals will be France's Franck Ribery (弗兰克·里贝里), baptised