15 Footballers' names you are pronouncing wrong

Jakub Blaszczykowski’s name is one of the toughest to pronounceIt is hilarious sometimes listening to a commentator struggling to pronounce the name of a footballer, especially when it has more than four or five syllables. And it isn't easy for the fans too, with most of these players getting a nickname which is used instead. Some of these names are so long that they probably give the club workers who put the names on the kits a nightmare every weekend. So here's a handy little guide to help you pronounce some of the toughest names in football.

#1 Wojciech Szczesny

Club: Arsenal (on loan at AS Roma)

Country: Poland

The Arsenal/Roma goalkeeper is more popularly known as ‘Wojo’ among his teammates. But commentators do manage to pronounce his name correctly now and then.

The Polish goalkeeper has spent many years in England at the Arsenal academy and can speak English very well. But unless you’re adept at speaking Polish, you may just say his last name correctly only in the middle of a very violent sneeze.

As for his first name, we’re pretty sure you got it very wrong. It is not pronounced ‘Woj-chi-ech Shez-nee’ at all!

Correct pronunciation: Voy-check Sh-chez-nee

#2 Anatoliy Tymoshchuk

Club: Formerly of Bayern Munich and Zenit St Petersburg

Country: Ukraine

When you’re the Ukrainian football team captain, your name is bound to be used a lot by the commentators. But the eastern Europeans have this knack for putting consonants in all the wrong places for the poor English speaking minority.

The midfielder is also known for a pretty fierce long-range drive, so it would be wise to know how to yell “Tymoshchuuuuuuk!” when required.

Correct pronunciation: Ana-to-lee Ti-mo-sh-chuk

#3 Niko Kranjcar

Club: Rangers

Country: Croatia

Croatians usually have some of the toughest names to pronounce, what with their ‘k’s and ‘j’s and ‘c’s in their names in odd places. Kranjcar is no different.

The attacking midfielder currently plays for Rangers and has played for clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers.

His first name isn’t pronounced “Nick-o”. The ‘jc’ in his last name is pronounced “ch”.

Correct pronunciation: Nee-ko Kran-char

#4 Dirk Kuyt

Club: Feyenoord

Country: Netherlands (retired)

The ex-Liverpool man’s last name was murdered in the Premier League by commentators who pronounced his name as they would read it on paper.

While ‘Dirk’ is easy enough to pronounce, ‘Kuyt’ is not. For example, you would hear commentators and fans pronounce his last name as “Koit”. That is completely wrong.

Correct pronunciation: Dirk Kout

#5 Anthony Reveillre

Club: Formerly of Lyon and Sunderland

Country: France

Another nightmare for commentators is Anthony Reveillere.

The Frenchman joined Premier League side Sunderland in 2014 and fans have mispronounced his name in at least six different ways. For starters, even his first name is pronounced differently. Surprised?

And the last name has lesser syllables than you thought. That’s the inherent beauty of the French language. No matter how you spell it, the pronunciation is completely different (using more or sometimes even less letters). The last part rhymes with the word ‘air’.

Correct pronunciation: An-to-ne Ra-va-yair

#6 Cesar Azpilicueta

Club: Chelsea

Country: Spain

Azpilicueta presents commentators and fans alike with a problem. Since he is Spanish, the ‘z’ is not pronounced like it is in English. As with Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla, the ‘z’ is actually pronounced ‘th’ in Spanish.

Correct pronunciation: Ce-saar Ath-pilly-kweta

Here’s Azpilicueta himself explaining how his name is pronounced.

#7 Mesut Ozil

Club: Arsenal

Country: Germany

Yes, you have all been pronouncing Ozil’s name wrong.

While the ‘z’ is pronounced the same almost the world over, the German player of Turkish descent has a last name that not many people get right the first time.

In fact, even his first name is pronounced with a ‘z’ while his last name actually has a ‘t’ in the pronunciation.

Correct pronunciation: Mae-zut Oet-sil

#8 Simon Kjaer

Club: Fenerbahce

Country: Denmark

The Danish centre-back, now playing in the Turkish Super Lig, has seen his name been bandied about Europe with a lot of disregard for how it should be pronounced.

While his first name is as simple as they come, his last name is a bit tricky. The ‘j’ is actually silent and the ‘ær’ is actually pronounced like the word ‘air’.

Correct pronunciation: Simon Kair

#9 Kim Kallstrom

Club: Djurgårdens IF

Country: Sweden

Ah, the mercurial midfielder who came to Arsenal’s rescue in January in 2014 – only to be injured for the first few weeks. The Swedish midfielder is quite a handful and can take a decent free kick.

But his last name is something everyone got wrong – the commentators, the fans and the pundits who wrote him off even before he set foot on the pitch. The ‘Käll’ in his last name isn’t even pronounced ‘Cal’ or ‘Kal’! And it is not even ‘ström’ as in ‘storm’.

Correct pronunciation: Kim Chel-strum

#10 Yevhen Konoplyanka

Club: Sevilla (on loan at Schalke 04)

Country: Ukraine

When his move to Liverpool in the 2014/15 winter transfer window fell through, nobody would have been happier than Premier League commentators. His name is quite a mouthful!

Take his first name: Yevhen. It is not split as ‘Yev-hen’.

As for his last name; it does have five syllables but not quite how you thought they are pronounced. Watch out for this player when the transfer window opens again!

Correct pronunciation: Ye-ven Ko-no-pley-ang-ka

#11 Sime Vrsaljko

Club: Atletico Madrid

Country: Croatia

Vrsaljko plays as a right-back for La Liga side Atletico Madrid and the Croatian national team. Relax, we’ll tell you how to say his name. Both names, in fact.

His first name is not pronounced ‘Sime’ as in ‘lime’. The ‘Š’ is actually pronounced ‘Sh’.

The last name is quite the tongue twister until you realize it is quite easy if you just insert some vowels for the sake of pronunciation.

Correct pronunciation: She-me Ver-sa-le-ko

#12 Ilkay Gundogan

Club: Manchester City

Country: Germany

This list wouldn’t be complete without players who represented Borussia Dortmund, and we start with Gündoan. The German midfielder has had some rotten luck with injuries and continues to watch from the sidelines even after his move to Manchester City.

His first name is not pronounced ‘Il-kay’ as in ‘okay’. And the second ‘g’ in his last name is actually silent.

Correct pronunciation: El-ki Gun-do-han

#13 Kevin Groskreutz

Club: VfB Stuttgart

Country: Germany

The former Borussia Dortmund defender has the German letter ‘S’ in his name – often mistaken for a ‘B’ by the vast majority of the English-speaking public.

The full-back’s name is quite a challenge if you haven’t heard commentators say it out loud during a game.

While his first name is pretty much straightforward, his last name can be split into two parts. The last part is not even pronounced ‘kre-utz’.

Correct pronunciation: Kevin Gross-kroi-tz

#14 Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Country: Greece

Greek players have always had some seriously long names with half-a-dozen syllables. None more so than Sokratis Papastathopoulos!

While the first name looks simple enough to say (compared to his last name), that has also been mispronounced on a number of occasions. It is not similar to the Greek philosopher Socrates. There is a difference when the ‘e’ is replaced by the ‘i’.

As for the last name, prepare to repeat it over and over until you get it right. It’s actually quite simple – when you break it down into six segments. Especially the last half of his last name.

Correct pronunciation: So-kra-tez Pa-pas-ta-tho-poo-los