Player's Nicknames

A list of player's nicknames from around the footballing world...


Argentinian Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Lionel Messi La Pulga (the Flea)
Diego Simeone El Cholo


Brazilian Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Carlos Alberto O Capitão do Tri
Ronaldo Il Fenomeno (the Phenomenon)


Dutch Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Dennis Bergkamp. The Non-Flying Dutchman. The elegant forward suffered from aviophobia.


English Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Aidy Boothroyd Hoofroyd
Paul Gascoigne Gazza
Paul Ince The Guv'nor
Stanley Matthews The Wizard of Dribble
Stuart Pearce Psycho
David Unsworth Rhino


French Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Marcel Desailly le Roq (the Rock)
Michel Platini le Roi (the King)
Dominique Rocheteau l'Ange Vert (the Green Angel). Classy winger with green-shirted St.Etienne in the 1970s.
Zinedine Zidane Zizou


Hungarian Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Ferenc Puskás The Galloping Major. Honvéd became the Hungarian Army team and players were given military ranks. Puskás became a major.


Italian Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Andrea Belotti Il Gallo (The Rooster)


Peruvian Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Ramón Quiroga El Loco (the Madman). Keeper who lived up to his nickname in the 1978 World Cup


Spanish Footballers Nicknames

Player Nickname(s)
Andoni Goikoetxea. The Butcher of Bilbao. The Spanish hardman became infamous in the 1980's for his crunching challenges on, amongst others, Maradona & Schuster.
Miguel Ángel Nadal. The Beast. As well as being The Beast, the former Barca defender is the uncle of tennis superstar Rafa Nadal.