Forget Messi and Ronaldo - the most impressive kick at the 2014 World Cup will be by someone you've never heard of before.
A paralysed teenager will perform the symbolic opening gesture using a mind-controlled exoskeleton.
The powered suit detects brainwaves in the frontal and parietal cortices which can be used to manipulate the limbs.
The kicker will be flanked by the first two teams to play
Lead robotic engineer Gordon Cheng of the Technical University of Munich, told New Scientist: "The vibrations can replicate the sensation of touching the ground, rolling off the toe and kicking off again.
"There's so much detail in this, it's phenomenal."
The actual kicker has yet to be chosen.
The Walk Again Project is a nonprofit, international collaboration among the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering, the Technical University of Munich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal in Brazil, The University of California, Davis, The University of Kentucky, and Regis Kopper of The Duke immersive Virtual Environment.