E-Paper
The tresses and passes at FIFA 2006
Besides football, here's something else that has caught the fans' imagination.Schedule | Teams | Results | Photos | Games
Not the passion of the football, but the players' haircuts, have become the most fascinating thing for some watchers in this World Cup. Some people are keeping a close watch on the new trends being set by the players and the teams.
Italy's brush with the scissors and a bid for fame from a plucky African outsider have kept tongues wagging in hairdressers' salons all over the world.
After years when flowing locks have been the norm, Italy have adopted the old adage that less is more.
Golden boy Francesco Totti, who had long cultivated a luxuriant bobbed style, appeared for his country's opening match against Ghana newly cropped.
Totti, not known for being shy about his talent or his looks, could not resist a wink to the cameras on hand to record his tonsorial step forward.
After two weeks of matches, the tournament has arguably thrown up only one truly memorable haircut - and it came from World Cup first-timers Angola and their extraordinarily-coiffeured defender Loco.
Possibly in homage to the bizarre 'half moon' cut sported by Ronaldo as Brazil cruised to the title in 2002, Loco has shaved his entire head except for a dreadlocked patch at the front.
