There have been enough players in this history of football who have gone on to be known by names other than their official names. Ronaldinho, Pele, Kaka are a few of the players who are commonly known by their nicknames.
Sergio Aguero named himself ‘Kun’, while players like Fernando Torres (El Nino) and David Villa (El Guaje) were nicknamed “the kid” for breaking into their club sides when they were only teenagers.
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We looked at 10 such players here, here is part two:
#11 Andoni Goikoetxea – The Butcher of Bilbao
Goikoetxea was part of the Athletic Bilbao side when Diego Maradona was with Barcelona and he was nicknamed ‘The Butcher of Bilbao’ as a result of a strong challenge on the Argentine legend.
Maradona had just received the ball and Bilbao’s no. 3 rushed in like a raging bull, and it looked like his sole purpose was to injure Maradona. His challenge, studs showing, made contact midway up the calf of Maradona’s standing leg, snapping his ankle and rupturing every ligament that surrounded the ankle.
Incredibly, Goikoetxea was only shown a yellow card for that horror “tackle”, if you may call it that.
Maradona recalls the incident: “I just felt the impact, heard the sound – like a piece of wood cracking – and realised immediately what had happened”
The British journalist Edward coined the term “The Butcher of Bilbao” just then, in the aftermath of that incident. Goikoetxea was given an 18-match ban that was reduced to seven matches after multiple appeals.
He came back to win the title with Bilbao, but the ghosts or the memories of that tackle on Maradona will linger long in the memories of whoever witnessed it.
#12 Roberto Baggio – Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail)
The Divine Ponytail, Roberto Baggio, unfortunately, is most remembered for two things – his missed penalty in the 1994 World Cup final and his haircut, and it was the latter which got him the nickname.
But the penalty miss was unfortunate as Baggio went on to be defined for that one kick of the football, and not the numerous other instances of brilliance that he produced on the football pitch.
He was as complete a striker as Italy have ever had. He scored 204 goals in 452 Serie A games, in addition to 27 goals for the Azzurri in his 56 international appearances. He won two Serie A titles, a UEFA Cup and was even awarded the Ballon D’Or.
#13 Adebayo Akinfenwa – The Beast
“People said: ‘You’re too big to play football’, but I kept playing and it just happened that people have caught on to me and taken to me. The nicest thing I get from it is that I can be myself and people seem to like it.”
In Akinfenwa’s own words, he was discouraged from playing football, but he has gone on reasonably well – as he is in the 17th year of his professional career. In those 17 years, he has played for 13 different clubs.
EA Sports didn’t ignore him either; the strength rating on the FIFA game series for Akinfenwa is 98, more than any other player in the world.
He is now back for a second spell at Wycombe Wanderers after helping AFC Wimbledon secure promotion to League One last season. He runs a clothing brand called ‘Beast Mode On’.
#14 Jose Enrique – El Toro (The Bull)
‘El Toro’ or ‘The Bull’ was Jose Enrique’s nickname during his spell at Newcastle United, when fans named him that due to his sheer strength and the defensive work that he did.
One of the hallmarks of Enrique’s game was his ability to shield the ball when he was pressed in dangerous areas of the pitch. After spending four years at Newcastle, Enrique left to join Liverpool in 2011. He was an instant hit as he delivered some fabulous performances.
But soon, his form waned and Brendan Rodgers tried him as a left winger, but bad form coupled with persistent injuries ensured that his career never really took off at Liverpool, at least not in the way that it was touted to.
Enrique played a few FA Cup games under Jurgen Klopp in the 2015/16 season, but he was released by the club in the summer of 2016.
Enrique currently plays for Real Zaragoza in the Spanish Segunda Division.
#15 Antonio Cassano – Il Bambino Terribile (The Terrible Infant)
As talented as some of the best footballers in the world, Cassano arrived in Italian football as an unassuming youngster who possessed an incredible amount of talent. But his penchant for finding himself in trouble wherever he played earned him the nickname, “The Terrible Infant”.
He started off with his hometown club AS Bari and his performances soon earned him another nickname – Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia (The Jewel of Old Bari). But soon, it was Cassano’s antics that came to the fore and not his football.
He had formed a sensational partnership with Francesco Totti, but Cassano had issues both with Totti and his manager Fabio Capello. Capello soon left and Cassano's relationship with the manager did not improve when Luciano Spalleti took over.
He fell out with Totti after both appeared together on a TV show and the Roma captain pocketed 80% of the appearance fee that was given.
When he moved to Real Madrid, he again had a falling out with Capello, once even calling the veteran manager “more fake than Monopoly money”. His lifestyle at Madrid affected his football and ensured he missed out on going to Germany for the 2006 World Cup, which Italy won.
His antics went on wherever he played, as referees, managers, club chairmen, no one was spared. If not for his combustible temperament, Cassano would have been an absolutely terrifying player on the pitch.
#16 Zico – The White Pele
The legendary Brazilian forward scored 48 goals in 71 appearances for the national team and the legendary Pele himself said, “If there was one player who came close to me, it was Zico.”
He was part of the Brazil team that finished third in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. He formed a devastating partnership with Socrates and tormented opposition defences when they played together.
It wasn’t just his playing career in which Zio was successful. He won the AFC Asian Cup in 2004 with Japan before reaching the Champions League quarterfinal in 2008 with Fenerbahce. He also reached the semifinal of ISL 2014 with FC Goa before guiding the Gaurs to a runners-up finish in the next year.
#17 Nicolas Anelka – Le Sulk
Anelka joined Arsenal in 1997 and in his second season with the Gunners, he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award. But his apparent lack of interest or enthusiasm on the pitch angered some sections of Arsenal fans, who nicknamed him ‘Le Sulk’ or ‘The Sulk’
Anelka was the epitome of a journeyman footballer as he played for 12 clubs in England, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, China and India through the course of his career.
In 508 career club games, Anelka scored 157 goals. He was involved in a bust-up with France coach Raymond Domenech during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, that saw him expelled from the squad. It was a disastrous campaign for France as they were sent packing in the first round itself.
Anelka, during a brief spell in India, played for and managed Mumbai City FC.
#18 Gerd Muller – Der Bomber der Nation (The Nation’s Bomber)
Muller was the quintessential no. 9. His propensity to score goals by the number earned him the nickname, translated as The Nation’s Bomber.
Until 2006, Muller held the record for the most number of goals scored in World Cup finals history. It was broken by Ronaldo is 2006 before Muller’s countryman Miroslav Klose broke the record again in 2014.
Muller won the Golden Boot in the 1970 World Cup – scoring 10 goals in the competition. He was also a part of the West Germany side that won the 1974 World Cup on home soil, the first world title for the country.
In many ways, his namesake – Thomas Muller is the closest modern player to Gerd Muller. He wasn’t particularly gifted in any one aspect of the game, but he knew where to be and when to be there to get the goals. Ultimately, in its simplest form, football is about scoring goals.
#19 Ronaldo – Il Fenomeno (The Phenomenon)
The greatest striker ever. Period. A phenomenon, Ronaldo Luis Nazario De Lima had a career blighted by injuries, but the things that he could do with the ball at his feet could be done by very few footballers ever.
Pace, power, strength, aerial ability, lethal finishing, Ronaldo had it all. His time at Barcelona will be remembered in not for anything else, for Sir Bobby Robson’s gesture of sheer disbelief after he scored one of his many stunning goals.
It was that ability which the media celebrated by calling him the phenomenon
He had a meltdown in the build-up to the 1998 World Cup final, which Brazil lost, but he ensured that when the chance came again four years later, there was no messing around.
He became only the second player to score past Oliver Kahn in that World Cup as he scored twice in the final for Brazil to run out 2-0 winners and lift the trophy for a record fifth time.
A striker like Ronaldo will probably never be seen again. But then again, how can we expect to see someone like that? He was a phenomenon after all.
#20 Lionel Messi – La Pulga (The Flea)
The atomic flea, Lionel Messi was called so because of his small physical stature. But what he has gone on to achieve in spite of his size is truly remarkable. He will be regarded as one of the greatest of all time, if not the absolute greatest.
With Barcelona, Messi has won everything there is to win. Five Ballon d'Or titles, numerous league and cup wins – the four UEFA Champions League titles being the highlight.
Not too bad for a player who was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency and was considered too weak to play football.
With 476 goals, he is Barcelona’s leading goalscorer of all time, with more than double the number of goals of second placed Cesar Rodriguez.
For Lionel Messi, size was not a deterrent. It only gave him the opportunity to do some incredible things on the pitch that bigger built men probably wouldn’t be capable of.
