England's inspirational Wayne Rooney and Argentina's gifted Lionel Messi enter the World Cup on Saturday as the tournament's big guns get their challenges under way.
Rooney and England face a tough first test against the United States in Rustenburg, while world player of the year Messi leads Argentina into battle against a physical Nigerian side at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium.
South Korea and 2004 European champions Greece kick off the day's action at 1130 GMT.
Their entrance follows Friday's memorable opening day when South Africa almost nicked a dream win against Mexico in an ecstatic Soccer City stadium where the trumpets showed they will be a constant feature of this World Cup.
While South Africa can only dream of reaching the later stages of the tournament, failure to do so would be a disaster for two-time winners Argentina and England, who are desperate to end a 44-year wait since their only triumph.
Rooney, whose teammates say has been in stunning form in training, is so important to England's hopes that US coach Bob Bradley said his team must stop him to have any chance of getting a result in the Group C clash.
"Our ability to keep track of him and keep him from doing what he wants to do is a very, very important part of what we have to do to win," Bradley said.
England coach Fabio Capello said the Manchester United striker could be one of the players of the tournament - providing he keeps the short temper he has already shown in warm-up games firmly in check.
"He is a fantastic player because he wants to win and the hunger in him is really, really strong," Capello said.
"But in this World Cup we have to be careful and respect the referees."
England suffered the blow of losing captain Rio Ferdinand to injury soon after arriving in South Africa, but Steven Gerrard has taken over as skipper and midfielder Joe Cole believes they are ready to launch a serious bid.
"This squad has got the experience of being in tournaments before, it's got a fit Wayne Rooney, a fit Steven Gerrard and everyone is coming to that right age," said Cole.
"If we can have that bit of luck that you are going to need, then we can go all the way."
While Messi is outstanding for Barcelona, the attacking midfielder has often struggled to reproduce his club form for his country, and has a strained relationship with coach Diego Maradona, still the country's true national hero after lifting the trophy as captain in 1986.
Maradona, an unpredictable character and still largely untested as a coach, pleaded for referees to ensure the Nigerians play fair against his team in their Group B opener.
"We know how Nigeria play and they know how we play. We don't expect to play a rough and tough team, although we're ready to play any team.
"But the only thing I can say right now is those looking for fair-play should not stand alone," said the man who scored the infamous "Hand of God" goal against England in the 1986 World Cup.
South Korea stunned the football world by reaching the semifinals of the 2002 tournament on home soil -- just as Portugal did by winning the European crown two years later -- but few observers expect either team to go far this year.
Captained by Rooney's club teammate Park Ji-Sung, the Koreans must break down a Greek side coached by veteran German Otto Rehhagel who has a habit of creating teams which are hard to beat.
They meet in Port Elizabeth in the day's other Group B game, but hours before kick-off thousands of supporters braved persistent drizzle to gather in the South Korean capital Seoul, echoing the scenes in 2002 when they turned the city into a human sea of red.
After the host nation were held to a 1-1 draw by Mexico, Friday's other match saw France fail to fire against Uruguay in a goalless Group A match which featured the first red card of the tournament, for the South Americans' Nicolas Lodeiro.
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