Tongues tied around tatu-bola

Some claim World Cup mascot related to Chinese pangolin, Yang Wanli reports from Kunming.

In the run-up to the FIFA World Cup 2014, Chinese soccer fans have been attempting to wrap their tongues around some of the exotic names from the national squads, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos of Greece, and Reza Ghoochannejhad of Iran among those that have proved the most perplexing.

However, the most popular name by far isn't that of a human being, but a shy, retiring creature called the Brazilian three-banded armadillo, or the tatu-bola, which has been chosen as the mascot for the world's biggest soccer tournament, which begins in Brazil on Thursday. The name, which is Portuguese in origin, comes from the animal's ability to curl up into a ball, or bola, at the first hint of trouble. In fact, it's one of just two species of armadillo that can achieve this feat.