Soccer: It wouldn't be a World Cup without...

Ronaldo

Forget what will happen on the pitch. Here's a look at the oddball side to the beautiful game:

HAIRCUTS FROM HELL

It's going to be one of the wait and see events of the tournament: who will turn up with the snazziest/silliest/strangest/dumbest hairdo?

Past World Cups have produced plenty of examples of what not to do in the tonsorial department.

Remember Carlos Valderrama, the Colombian midfielder with his orange-afro 'do? He could have hidden a ferret in there and no one would have been the wiser.

Or Ronaldo, who gave us probably the silliest of all last time out in 2002, with that front stumpy strip at the front of a shaved dome.

There is an early frontrunner, the unknown Danijel Ljuboja from Serbia and Montenegro. He fancies a skunk-style white stripe.

As for England's captain, who has attracted far more money than sense for bookmakers with his changing fashion statements in the past, the odds are on bald or the mullet or that he'll have one of his children's names spelt on his head.

SILLY CELEBRATIONS

Remember the Brazilians' cradling-the-baby goal celebrations? England seem to have taken it up, at least on the evidence of their last couple of warmup internationals. Copycats.

Then again, their beanpole striker, Peter Crouch, has developed a robot dance. Thankfully, unless Crouch does the unthinkable for England and troubles the scorer, that won't be seen too often.

Corner flags, for some reason, attract the attention of goalscorers. Why? Who knows, but they act as a congregation point.

Watch for hip-swivellers from Africa, including the Ghanaians (above, celebrating a goal against South Korea this month), the fist-clenched, teeth baring snarl of some European teams, or the swallow dive, followed by the pile-up on top of the happy but flattened goalscorer, which seems not to be restricted to one particular region.

GLAMOROUS GIRLFRIENDS

Off the field, the biggest battle will be the glamour stakes. In the world of Prada, Gucci and Ferragamo, the players' wives, girlfriends and partners will be looking to outdo each other in the fashion department.

The best-known combo? Take your pick from Becks and Victoria or French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and former supermodel Linda Evangelista.

There are those with a mischevious streak who claim the players value their companions for their conversation skills and ability to whisk up a nifty sausage and mash.

The women similarly love their men for their abilities on and off the pitch ... oh, stop it.

Still, you do wonder how the odd pug-ugly midfielder has a Miss Universe finalist on his arm. Ain't love grand. Anyway, keep an eye out for the odd catty glance among the women, that is, if you can see behind the Dolce & Gabbanas.

THE BIG AND THE LITTLE

The award for shortest player at the cup goes to ... Ecuador's mighty little bloke, Christian Lara, who rolls in at a whopping 1.62m, or 5ft 4in for the metrically challenged.

Lara's theme over the next month will be improving his games to goals ratio, currently standing at 19/3.

It's unlikely to happen but should Ecuador play the Czech Republic in a later round keep your fingers crossed that Lara trots past Czech striker Jan Koller at some point. He won't be marking Koller that's for sure, given that at 2.03m, or 6ft 8in, the shaven-headed Koller is listed as the tallest player at the event.

And spare a thought for Tunisian goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel as he bends to pick the ball out of his net. The 40-year-old is the oldest player at the cup.

FANATICAL FANS

English cricket fans are known for dressing up as nuns, penguins or alligators for a day at The Oval. But the World Cup is in another league as rival supporters seek to outdo each other.

African nations fans often sport feathered head dresses, Brazil's female supporters are not averse to the yellow bikini, and the Scandinavians opt for the viking look.

But what is the common ground they all share? Face paint, usually the preserve of under-12s at a funfair or a rugby test, will be slapped on by the litre during cup month.

DAFT MASCOTS

It's been a grim start for the German hosts on the mascot front. This might not sound like a big deal, but from Naranjito in Spain in 1982, through Striker in 1994, Footix in France in 1998 to Ato, Kaz and Nik in Korea and Japan four years ago, mascots matter. Not.

This Cup's figure has hit the skids. The company producing Goleo has gone bust. Goleo was a football lion, who does not wear any shorts. He didn't appeal to the Germans, whose emblem is an eagle. You might wonder why they opted for a lion, but they did.

Some mascots make an impact, others don't. When England put up a bid a few years ago, some bright spark came up with Bulldog Bobby, a brutish-looking beast only good for frightening kids at night.

The Germans have got a second mascot, Pille, a talking soccer ball. Pille is German for pill, as in a colloquial term for a football.