But, Looking at the Camera, He’ll Probably Say ‘Hi Mom!’

Marcelo Salas, whose two goals against Italy on Thursday immediately made him the tournament’s top goal scorer, was given a soccer ball by his father as a Christmas present as a child.

“I used to play with it all day long,” said Salas, 23, who scored more than 150 goals in the Chilean and Argentine leagues in his first five seasons. “I never stopped playing with it.”

The gift has paid huge dividends.

Salas, who netted 11 goals in 12 World Cup qualifying games for Chile and blasted two past England at Wembley in February, has blazed a path from Temuco in Chile to Universidad Catolica to River Plate in Argentina to Lazio of Rome.

The latest move to the Italian Serie A was worth a whopping $23 million. Enough for Salas to give his father quite a few Christmas presents of his own.

WILLIAM WALLACE SHOWED UP AND SHOUTED SOMETHING ABOUT FREEDOM

The Scottish fans are not the only ones who have been walking around Paris in kilts this week.

Scotland’s players also decided to forgo suits and ties and traveled to Wednesday’s opening match against Brazil in traditional Highland dress.

“Our supporters are nicknamed the Tartan Army and all the players were keen to represent their country and their fans by wearing traditional tartan kilt for the first time ever at a World Cup,” Coach Craig Brown said.

The kilts looked fine, but the Brazilians won anyway.