What are Brazil's nicknames for Fred?

The Selecao remain favourites to lift the World Cup in Qatar and are already safely through to the knockout stages, with a game to spare.

Fred picked up a yellow card in the 1-0 win over Switzerland so looks likely to start on the bench against Cameroon on Thursday night.

However, he appears certain to play a key role as the tournament progresses, with his physical output drawing great recognition from experts in sports science.

Known as 'Fredinho' in the national team, and 'The Little Ant' to others, the energetic Red is reportedly always in the top metrics for distance covered in matches and he had the highest rate-per-minute during almost an hour's worth of work against the Swiss, even though goalscorer Casemiro ran the most kilometres in total.

"We had a match in the Copa America where Fred covered 12 kilometres," Brazil sports scientist Guilherme Passos told Globo. "He is always in our top one or top two, in volume of distance travelled and in terms of work rate, which means he is constantly travelling through the field at high and moderate speed."

The national team obviously take good care of Fred but the player has been applauded for his attitude to recovery and recuperation, which enables him to produce such high-octane performances.

"We pay a lot of attention to Fred regarding his recovery," added Passos. "Because he loses a lot of weight during the game, precisely because of this great work rate. He is one of the main athletes that we have to rehydrate a lot after the game, and increase the carbohydrate intake a lot, to be able to recover well for the next match.

"He manages to recover quickly because he is an athlete who pays attention to this information and follows the recovery protocols. It's not just because of genetics because, of course, he is genetically favoured, like everyone at a high level, but he has great discipline."

Brazil have always appreciated those who do the understated work to allow their flair players to thrive, and it is clear to see why the team needs this, with one opinion covered by the newspaper suggesting the 29-year-old plays like he is charged by a Duracell battery.

Once the Cameroon game is over, with a 19:00 GMT kick-off on Thursday, the focus will switch to next week and the path to glory in Qatar.

Expect Fred to be very much in coach Tite's plans as more hurdles come the South Americans' way.