How Africa
Some footballers are only known by their nicknames and are often designated by clubs and media by these nicknames. But in reality, these players all have real names that are generally unknown to most football fans.
While some nicknames are abbreviations of their full names, others are simply diminutives and sometimes there is no link to their names. AfrikMag offers five players with more popular nicknames than their real names.
Chicharito
Javier Hernández Balcazar, called Chicharito which means pea in Spanish, was named after his father, Javier Hernández Gutiérrez, who was also called Chícharo (pea). Hernandez Javier’s father played for Mexico at the 1986 World Cup.
Kaka
Known under the nickname of Kaka, Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, is one of the best players in the history of football. Ricardo had the nickname of Kaka thanks to his little brother Digao who called him “Caca” because of his inability to pronounce “Ricardo” when they were young.
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira has been voted best FIFA player of the year twice. Ronaldinho started playing football at the age of 7. He was nicknamed “Ronaldinho” because he was really very small but played with people much bigger than him.
Robinho
His real name Robson de Souza, Robinho (meaning little Robson) received this nickname while he was at the beginning of his career in Brazil due to his small size. After his departure from Manchester United, Robinho joined the Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro.
Isco
Francisco Román Alarcón Suárez is known as Isco, which simply means a little magician. Isco currently plays for Real Madrid and is one of the most talented players in the world.
