| And quite a few have been rechristened according to | | | | without looking at the number on their soccer shirts! |
| their appearance. Let's take a look at some | | | | Pele, the greatest legend of the game, would've had |
| memorable, bizarre and unique nicknames in the world | | | | Edson Arantes do Nascimento on the back of his |
| of soccer.o Brazilian Ronaldo's deadly dribbling and | | | | soccer shirt! And our very own Garrincha would be |
| goal striking abilities earned him the title O Fenomeno.o | | | | Manuel Francisco dos Santos!o For reasons unknown |
| Gabriel Batistuta won recognition as Batigol after | | | | to us, German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is known as |
| becoming Argentina's most prolific goal scorer.o | | | | Der Ausserirdische or The Extra Terrestrial! Is there |
| Frenchman Fabien Barthez has gone down in history | | | | something we should know here or has ET already |
| as the Baldheaded God (Le Divin Chauve)!o Spaniard | | | | gone home?!o If German soccer star, Franz |
| Ivan de la Pena's nickname, The Little Buddha, has its | | | | Beckenbauer, was The Emperor (Der Kaiser), his |
| origin's in his lack of hair!o Simple contractions | | | | team mate, Gerd Müller, went down in history as |
| transformed giant stars into affectionate, approachable | | | | The Bomber thanks to his goal scoring prowess!o And |
| guys - Jurgen Klinsmann was Klinsi, Michel Platini | | | | now, time to enter the 'soccer zoo' where you'll find |
| became Platoche and Filippo Inzaghi is Pippo!o The | | | | Lionel Messi - the Flea, Claudio Lopez - the Louse, |
| famous wearer of the number 10 soccer shirt, | | | | Emilio Butragueno - the Vulture, and their illustrious |
| Argentinian Diego Maradona was initially stuck with the | | | | ancestors, Jack Charlton - the Giraffe, Lev Yashin - |
| not so flattering moniker, Fluffy, owing to his scruffy | | | | the Black Spider, Mario Kempes - the Matador, |
| hairstyle! Luckily, he was later graced as the Golden | | | | Eusebio - the Panther and Kevin Keegan - the Mouse! |
| Child (El Pibe de Oro).o One of the most skilled dribbler, | | | | It's a full house here, as you can see!o Some players |
| finisher and free kick specialist, Brazilian Zico, was so | | | | found themselves firmly ensconced on royal ground |
| multitalented, he became dubbed the White Pele - a | | | | and sat on the throne with due honors. Ghanaian |
| tough title to live up to for any player! Interestingly | | | | international, Prince Opoku Bismark Polley Sampene, |
| enough, Pele himself endorsed this comparison, | | | | known as Prince Polley, was a popular player in the |
| admitting that "throughout the years, the one player | | | | Dutch league back in the 90's.o And then a name |
| that came closest to me was Zico."o Pet names take | | | | came along in the 80's that took on spiritual proportions |
| on such huge proportions, they sometimes replace and | | | | of the highest order - Jesus Zamora! Imagine Jesus |
| erase a players real name! Even their soccer jerseys | | | | playing for Spain at the Soccer World Cup! It doesn't |
| carry their nickname! And thankfully so, or we wouldn't | | | | get more surreal than that, does it?! |
| have known where our favorite players were on field, | | | | |