At 37, Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be the oldest outfield player at the South African tournament. And certainly the only one with an Aztec first name.

And thanks to one special piece of skill he has one of the more memorable World Cup legacies.

In his first tournament, France ’98, he regaled the world with the “Cuauhteminha” – the “Blanco trick” – where he would use both feet to flip the ball between on-rushing defenders and leap out of the way of their challenges.

 

But the trick is just one part of a lengthy international goalscoring career dating back to 1999 when he was leading scorer in, and player of, the then-fledgling Confederations Cup tournament.

He also found the net in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals. But he was dropped from the Mexico squad for the 2006 tournament in Germany after a series of disputes with the side’s Argentine coach Ricardo La Volpe.

Blanco announced his international retirement in the autumn of 2008.

But current Mexico coach Javier Aguirre brought him back into the fold last year, possibly impressed by Blanco’s determination to make it to South Africa: “I’ll rip out my soul in order to get a place,” he said recently.