Argentina: Master of Nicknames
Watching last week’s fantastic 3-3 draw between Barcelona and Real Madrid, I was reminded of my favorite nickname today. Its not often that a player’s nickname fits as appropriately as Leonel Messi’s designation as “the atomic flea” (la pulga atómica). Anyone who has seen the Barca wonderkid play knows that his quick movements are as unstoppable (and annoying) to defenders as a flea is to a dog rolling on its back trying to rid itself of a pest.
La Pulga Atómica
Argentines might just be the modern masters of nicknames. Many Argentine players have creative and unique unofficial names. A few of my favorites:Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid’s young Argentine forward, has proven this year that he has the potential to be as good as Messi. His nickname rivals that of the atomic flea, too. Aguero is known as “El Kun” because of his apparent resemblance of a Japanese anime character (kun is a title often added to the names of boys in Japanese, e.g. Sergio-kun).
El Kun
Carlos Tevez could, quite possibly, be the ugliest soccer player ever. I always assumed his nickname “El Apache” was a derogatory reference to the native American group, but it turns out he is called this because he is from a barrio commonly known as Fuerte Apache.
El Apache
Tevez’s traveling partner in recent years has been Javier Mascherano. The defensive midfielder went with Tevez to Corinthians and later to West Ham (he’s since moved on to Liverpool). Though Hammers fans only briefly witnessed Mascherano’s talents, they led to him being dubbed el jefecito (the little chief) back home in Argentina. Liverpool fans will now be hoping that he bosses games at Anfield like he did for years in South America and lives up to his title.
Pablo Aimar has experienced a revival of sorts this year playing at Real Zaragoza after falling out of favor with Valencia. He has returned to the free-flowing style that led Argentines to nickname him el payaso (the clown). His wild hair (which he had cropped at the time of his appearance in the classic Adidas Footballitis commercials) does also make him resemble Crusty the Clown.
El Payaso
Javier Zanetti was controversially left off of Argentina’s 2006 World Cup team. Too bad because if he had played, we would have been able to hear his nickname: el Pupi. The blog Mexican Wave thinks this comes from the name of the foundation of the same name Zanetti runs (it helps impoverished youth in Argentina). I’m not sure if this is right (I suspect the nickname may have come before the foundation’s name), but it’s a sure bet that Zanetti’s nickname isn’t anything most English speakers wondered when they first read it.
El Pupi
The most unique origin for a nickname goes to Inter striker Julio Cruz. Wikipedia tells his story:
His nickname, “the gardener”, “El Jardinero” in Spanish, was given to him at a young in age in Argentina. He was working as a gardner [sic] for lowly local team Banfield, cutting the grass and looking after the pitch, and when coach Oscar López was missing a player one day for a practise match, he was called over to make up the numbers. After noticing his talent, Banfield signed him. Since then Julio has always been known as El Jardinero.
El Jardinero
And to finish off, a few Argentine blasts from the past with excellent nicknames:
- Marcelo Gallardo: el muñeco (the doll)
- Germán Burgos: el mono (the monkey)
- Ariel Ortega: el burrito (the little donkey)
- Claudio Lopez: el piojo (the louse)
- Juan Sebastian Verón: la brujita (the little witch)
March 15th, 2007 06:54
LOL, very interesting. I can see England fans having fun with Sergio Agüeros’ nickname
March 16th, 2007 03:34
Has Leonel Messi even hit puberty yet?
March 17th, 2007 09:43
Great article! I think it’s great how many Spanish and Argentinian get to have nicknames. They seem to have such meaning and character to them.
Out of curiosity, I thought I’d find out some nicknames of players from the great 1978 World Cup-winning side. Mario Kempes was nicknamed ‘El matador’ which speaks for itself! Daniel Passarella was ‘El Gran Capitan’ - again, self-explanatory, but the most interesting one is arguably that of Alberto Tarantini. He was known as ‘Conejo’ which, according to my research, could mean either ‘rabbit’ or… well let’s just say a slang word referring to a rather personal part of a woman’s body!!!
I’m assuming Tarantini was either a very quick runner, had big floppy ears or wasn’t very popular with his team-mates…
March 17th, 2007 13:32
Messi en fuego! I love Messi (and you know I don’t love many soccer players). So bring on the fleaman! Obama in 08! Later.
March 17th, 2007 16:05
Chris - I did know about some of the older nicknames, but wanted to focus on more recent players. Passarella is known also as ‘El Kasier’ for his resemblance to Beckenbauer (in playing style, not looks).
I don’t know about Alberto Tarantini, but current Barcelona player Javier Saviola is also known as ‘el conejo.’ This refers to his rabbit-like qualities (small and quick), not anything else.
March 19th, 2007 20:51
S-Dawg - Your comment got marked as spam. Trying not using the word “puberty” next time!
June 5th, 2007 17:22
Let’s not forget that the reason Juan Sebastian Veron is called “la brujita,” is because his father was nicknamed “la bruja.” His father, Juan Ramon Veron, was also a famous soccer player with the club Estudiantes de la plata.