Manchester United player Fred's two nicknames given to him by Brazil teammates

Fred has come in for high praise from Brazil's sports scientist for his remarkable work rate.

Combative midfielder Fred is one of 16 Manchester United players in Qatar for this winter's World Cup and unlike Christian Eriksen or Hannibal Mejbri he will be remaining past the group stages. The Selecao have cruised into the knock-outs with a match to spare after winning their first two games against Serbia and Switzerland.

Fred is on a booking so is unlikely to start in the final match against Cameroon on Friday to not risk suspension in the last 16 but is likely to play a key role for Tite's side as the tournament progresses, likely because of the high energy and intensity he brings in midfield.

Nicknamed 'Fedinho' (meaning intuitive) and 'The Little Ant' by his international teammates, Brazil sports scientist Guilherme Passos has told Globo [via Manchester United's official website ] about Fred's near-endless stamina. He said: "We had a match in the Copa America where Fred covered 12 kilometres.

"He is always in our top one or top two, in volume of distance travelled and in terms of work rate, which means he is constantly travelling through the field at high and moderate speed."

"We pay a lot of attention to Fred regarding his recovery. Because he loses a lot of weight during the game, precisely because of this great work rate. He is one of the main athletes that we have to rehydrate a lot after the game, and increase the carbohydrate intake a lot, to be able to recover well for the next match.

"He manages to recover quickly because he is an athlete who pays attention to this information and follows the recovery protocols. It's not just because of genetics because, of course, he is genetically favoured, like everyone at a high level, but he has great discipline."