Player profile

A hat-trick against Chile, followed by back-to-back winners in two friendlies is a pretty good way to guarantee yourself a place on the plane to South Africa.

After exploding on to the scene and making his Brazil debut the day before his 19th birthday, Nilmar slipped out of the international picture for four long years before coach Dunga finally recalled him.

He is now making up for lost time as he showed by notching a dazzling hat-trick against Chile in qualifying for South Africa and then scoring against Oman and England in successive games.

If he starts, he usually plays on the left side of Luis Fabiano in attack and is dangerous when drifting in with the ball at his feet, promoting comparisons with Brazilian great Bebeto, especially as they both share boyish good looks.

Europe’s top clubs were swift to pounce on the teenage prodigy at Internacional. He signed for Lyon in a blaze of publicity in 2004 but failed to disrupt the club’s first-choice front pair of Sidney Govou and Sylvain Wiltord.

He managed just two goals for the club before moving back to Brazil and signing for Corinthians, where he won the league title playing alongside Caros Tevez.

A second spell at Internacional followed and his form was such that Spanish side Villarreal brought in back across the Atlantic and he has enjoyed a solid first season in La Liga, scoring 11 goals in 33 games.

In May 2009 he scored a famous goal for Internacional against his former club Corinthians, beating five opponents in a stunning run across the defence before finishing smartly.