What was the nickname of the athlete? Magomed Zhirkoev and other funny nicknames for athletes. Goulash with red wine

Andrea Pirlo – “Professor”, “Architect”, for his ability to manage the team’s game and build intricate combinations Antonio Cassano – “Peter Pan”. One of the most gifted Italian football players, he has long been considered a potential world-class star, but has never been able to unleash his potential as a “fantasist”. His childish character makes Cassano look like Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up.
Alexandro Pato - Duckling. Pato translates from Portuguese as “white duckling”.

Yuri Zhirkov - “Nikulin”. Behind external resemblance with a famous actor.
Adriano Galliani - “Uncle Fester” (the hero of “The Addams Family”). One of the most colorful figures in world football received this nickname for his stunning resemblance to the character from The Addams Family.
Alexander Anyukov - AN-22. A combination of the first two letters of the player’s last name and game number.
Andreas Iniesta - "Casper". For amazing similarity and cuteness.
Arjen Robben - The Glass Man. One of the most talented wingers in the world, Robben has been unable to reach his full potential due to constant injuries that have plagued him over the years.
Bastian Schweinsteiger - "pig"; midfielder of the German national team. Fans affectionately call him Pig, since the “Schwein” in German means "pig".
David Beckham - "spice boy", midfielder of the England national team. One of the most famous football players in the world received an ironic nickname after he married Victoria Adams, a former member of the Spice Girls, and began to pay a lot of attention to his appearance.
Gianluigi Buffon - "Batman". For his “superpowers” ​​and ability to “fly” within the goal frame.
Fernando Torres is the “baby” striker of the Spanish national team. The forward owes his nickname either to the youthfulness of his facial features or to the early development of his talent. It is possible that both at the same time.
Francesco Totti - “Emperor of Rome” - The symbol of the team of the eternal city, its long-term leader and captain simply could not get another nickname.
Frank Lampard - Lamppost. An example of “subtle” English humor, Lampard = lamps = lamp-post (lamp post). In the game, fortunately, such qualities are not observed in him.
Javier Zanetti is a “tractor”, the midfielder of the Argentina national team received his nickname because he has been plowing the flank from end to end for more than ten years - both at Inter and in the national team.
Lionel Messi is a “flea” for his short stature and the agility with which he eludes the opponent's defense.
Michael Essien - Terminator. For the ability to burn out the center of the field and demoralize your opponents with a sideways glance
Michael Owen - "Golden Boy" The former hope of English football.
Mesut Ozil - "Nemo". This nickname was invented by Mesut's teammates for his resemblance to the cartoon character. Oh this look!
Nicolas Anelka - "Incredibly gloomy." Try to remember his unbridled joy after celebrating a goal. Does not work? This fact and always strained relations with partners and club management became the reason for the nickname.
Pepe - "Psycho". For his violent temper, crazy antics on the field and outright rudeness towards his opponent.
Ryan Giggs - "Welsh Wizard" - The most experienced player in the Welsh team, living legend English football and Manchester United. Ryan clearly draws his source of longevity from a magical environment.
Roman Pavlyuchenko - “The Sleeping Giant”. The perfect nickname created by Guus Hiddink. Even he himself doesn’t know when “Pav” will wake up.
Sergey Ovchinnikov - “Boss”. For his sharp, explosive character and his desire to prove who is boss on the field. Even the referee.
Gennaro Gattuso – “Braveheart”, “Rino”, “Rhino”, “White Davids” - for fearlessness and the desire to fight to the last drop of blood on the football field
Wayne Rooney - "Shrek". For its phenomenal resemblance to the famous cartoon character.
Walter Samuel – “the wall”, defender of the Argentina national team. The origin of the nickname is obvious: acting impeccably in defense, Samuel stands in the way of the opposing attackers like an impassable wall.
Vladimir Bystrov - “34th ambulance”. For its incredible speed and, possibly, plying on the route “St. Petersburg - Moscow - St. Petersburg”.
Jan Koller - Dino the Dinosaur. Huge height and good-natured disposition distinguish both characters.

The names of great athletes, some of whom won their victories back in Soviet times, while others were already raising their prestige modern Russia, often heard from television screens. Many of those who were professionally involved in sports go into politics or are engaged in coaching. Why not remember the outstanding Russian athletes in different periods her existence? It is these people who will be discussed in this article.

Valery Kharlamov

One of the greatest athletes of the USSR, who is a member of both the Kontinental Hockey League and International Federation hockey, born in Moscow in 1948. It is interesting that the mother of the famous hockey player is Spanish Carmen Orive-Abad. The girl, who had lived in the USSR since the age of twelve, impressed B. Kharlamov, with whom she worked at the same factory, with her bright appearance, passionate and temperamental character.

Valery Kharlamov first started skating at the age of seven, and soon he began training on permanent basis under the leadership of Vyacheslav Tazov. The boy’s sports career, which had not yet really begun, could be broken by the fact that he grew up as a very sick child; doctors even suspected rheumatism and forbade him to play sports. That’s why Valery went to hockey games secretly. The father helped, who supported the boy and trained with him additionally according to his own program. By the age of 14, Valery Kharlamov was completely healthy.

At first, the young man played for the CSKA sports school team, and continued his adult career in the Zvezda team in the small city of Chebakul. Even then, Alexander Gusev became his partner, who over time would also become one of the great athletes of the USSR. After several brilliant victories, Kharlamov ends up in CSKA. V. Petrov and B. Mikhailov became his partners for a long time. Their first joint victory was in 1968, the match between the USSR and Canada. At the World Championships, which took place in Sweden, Valery Kharlamov became the best striker of the Union in personal points.

In 1976, the great athlete of the world Valery Kharlamov turns the match in his favor by scoring the decisive goal. But that same year he suffered a serious car accident. Kharlamov took a very long time to recover, but was able to get on the ice. In the summer of 1981, the team flew to the Canada Cup without a hockey player. On the same day that Kharlamov had an extremely unpleasant conversation with the coach, an accident occurred that took the lives of Valery, his wife and her cousin.

Lev Yashin

Legendary goalkeeper who played for Dynamo and the national team Soviet Union, won many personal and team trophies - he is truly a great athlete of the world and the USSR. Lev Yashin to this day he remains the only goalkeeper to have received the prestigious Ballon d'Or award. He was a pioneer of the game of exits and hitting the ball over the crossbar.

Lev was born into a simple family, his father worked as a mechanic, his mother was also a craftsman. He received his first football lessons in his home yard, and when the boy was 11, the Great Patriotic War began. The teenager became a mechanic and began making equipment for military purposes.

The greatest athletes achieved success quickly. This happened with Lev Yashin. After the war he played in the evenings amateur team"Red October". When the young man served in the army, professional trainers paid attention to him. Yashin began playing for Dynamo Moscow and became a goalkeeper. Very soon he was already third in the main lineup. A unique achievement is that Lev Yashin spent twenty-two seasons in the T-shirt of this club.

It is interesting that the great Russian athlete was equally talented in both football and hockey. He showed pretty good results. For example, Lev Yashin became the USSR champion in 1953 and was selected for the national team, but decided to focus his efforts exclusively on football, and not on the ice.

The athlete won the Olympic Games, and in 1960, with the USSR national team, he became the European Champion. For Soviet children, Lev Yashin is as legendary and the greatest athlete of all time as Pepe is for the Brazilians. By the way, the Soviet football player was friends with him for a long time. Last match Lev Yashin spent May 27, 1971. Then he was a coach, working mainly with youth and children's teams, but did not achieve significant success in this field.

The football player died in 1990 from gangrene of the leg and complications associated with smoking. Two days before his death, he received the Hero of Labor medal.

Ivan Poddubny

The greatest athlete, professional athlete and circus performer Ivan Poddubny was born in Russian Empire, October 8, 1871, in the family of a Zaporozhye Cossack. The boy received heroic strength and the habit of working hard all his life from his father, and an ear for music from his mother. IN childhood and in his youth he sang in the choir, worked from the age of 12, and at 22 he left his native village for the territory of the modern Poltava region in Crimea. Ivan Poddubny first entered the ring in 1896, when a circus was touring in Crimea. It was from that moment that the port worker’s sports career began.

In 1903, the Russian athlete competed at the World Championships in Paris. He fought eleven fights, but lost to the Frenchman Boucher. He used a trick - he used oil. The victory was awarded to the Frenchman, and Ivan Poddubny became an opponent dirty methods. In 1905 the victory was already unconditional. The athlete from the Russian Empire was invited to various competitions, he was called the “champion of champions.” But in 1910, Ivan Poddubny decided to end his sports career because he dreamed of a home and family.

At 42, the great Russian athlete returned, but only to the circus arena. He worked in Zhitomir, Kerch, Moscow, Petrograd, and went on tour in the USA and Germany. Interestingly, it was only a serious illness that forced him to go on such a long trip. financial position. Many assume that Ivan Poddubny has a lot of money left in American bank accounts.

Yuri Vlasov

Arnold Schwarzenegger called Yuri Vlasov his idol. This greatest athlete holds 31 world records in athletics, But first things first. Yuri Vlasov was born into an intelligent Soviet family in 1935. His father was a diplomat and intelligence officer, wearing the shoulder straps of a GRU colonel, his mother was the head of a library. As a boy, he studied at the Suvorov School, and at 14 he began his journey in sports.

The young man first became the record holder of the Soviet Union at the age of 21, and two years later he won the world championship in Warsaw. The triumph took place in 1960 at the Olympics in Rome, which later became known as the “Vlasov Olympics.” On his first attempt, with a weight of 185 kg, Vlasov received gold; the world record in triathlon was 520 kg. The second attempt was even better (195 kg and 530 kg in triathlon), the third - again world records (202.5 kg in clean and jerk and 537.5 in triathlon). The great Russian athlete exceeded the record of American Paul Anderson.

Yuri Vlasov was known and respected not only in the USSR. He was not just an athlete - the glasses, which Yuri did not take off even during approaches, drew public attention to other sides of him. They spoke of him as a talented engineer and a person who speaks several languages. But after the Tokyo Olympics (where Vlasov lost), the athlete decided to end his career. Due to financial problems he had to return. In 1966, Yuri Vlasov began training again, and already in 1967 he set his last record, for which he received 850 rubles.

In the early 90s, Vlasov went into politics. He was a deputy of the USSR, publicly criticized the party and the KGB, and became a deputy of the State Duma. Yuri Vlasov ran for the post of President of Russia, but received only 0.2% of the vote.

Fedor Emelianenko

The great athlete of the 21st century, Fedor Emelianenko, was born on September 28, 1976. Fyodor's father worked as a welder, his mother was a teacher at a school. In total, there were four children in the family, the future athlete became the second. From the age of ten, the boy was engaged in sambo and judo, giving everything free time training, sometimes even staying in the gym overnight. Since 1997, Fedor Emelianenko began performing in professional sports. He won an international tournament, received the title of Master of Sports, and became the champion of Russia. At the end of the century, Fedor Emelianenko switched to MMA, and in 2000 he began to actively engage in boxing. The year 2004 was especially successful in the professional biography of the great athlete. He defeated Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman. Later there were ups and downs.

Sergey Bubka

Greatest Athlete Sergey Bubka born in 1963 in Lugansk. Since childhood, he has been involved in sports, becoming interested in pole vaulting and athletics. Here he met his future coach Vitaly Petrov. He later graduated Kyiv Institute physical culture and became a candidate of pedagogy (2002).

At the world's first athletics championship, which took place in 1982 in Helsinki, Sergei Bubka became a gold medalist, and soon a master of sports. Two years later, he set the first world record, conquering a height of 5 m 85 cm. The next year, at the championship in Paris, Sergei Bubka already conquered 6 meters. In just the first ten years of his professional career, he set 35 world records. The highest achievements were 6 m 14 cm in the open stadium and 6 m 15 cm in the hall.

Sergei Nazarovich won the World Championship six times, once at Olympic Games(1988), he is a European champion, a two-time USSR champion, a winner of the European Winter Championship and the Goodwill Games. The athlete repeatedly participated in the Olympic Games in national teams Soviet Union and Ukraine. Sergei Bubka retired from sports in 2001.

Larisa Latynina

The gymnast was born in the Ukrainian SSR (in Kharkov) before the start of the Great Patriotic War. The childhood of the future great Russian athlete was difficult: the father abandoned the family when the baby was not yet a year old, and the mother was an illiterate village woman who wanted better fate for my daughter. The family barely had enough to eat. Since childhood, the girl had a noticeable core and strong-willed character; Larisa graduated from school with a gold medal, and her first serious hobby was ballet. The girl made progress, dreaming of a career at the Bolshoi Theater, but then another hobby appeared in her life - artistic gymnastics.

Larisa Latynina participated in the World Championships in 1954 as part of the Soviet Union team. This was only the beginning of her career, but the young gymnast was already admired by her more experienced colleagues, critics and judges. She became the absolute champion of the Olympic Games. She has other titles to her name: absolute champion of Europe and the USSR, world champion. She became the captain of the USSR national team, then a coach. Young gymnasts Larisa Latynina taught them the will to win and gradually passed on her invaluable experience to them.

The Soviet gymnastics record for the number of titles and gold medals, which lasted for half a century, was broken by Michael Phelps, who was only one ahead of Larisa Latynina Olympic medal.

Yelena Isinbayeva

The great Russian athlete of the 21st century, Elena Isinbaeva, was born in 1982 in Volgograd. The family lived modestly, but the parents supported their two daughters in all their endeavors. At the age of five, Elena began studying rhythmic gymnastics V sports school, later studied at the Olympic Reserve School, and then without competition entered the Academy of Physical Culture in Volgograd.

In 1997, the girl became a master of sports, but her height prevented her from continuing her brilliant sports career. The coach of a 15-year-old girl suggested that she take up pole vaulting instead of gymnastics (at this age this is already a risky step for an athlete), Elena agreed, as she dreamed of a sports career. Elena made her debut in 1998, her jump result was 4 meters. In 1999, the girl received her first Olympic medal and set her first record.

After several defeats in 2010, the girl decided to leave the sport for a while; in 2013, Elena Isinbaeva announced that she was ready to leave the sport because she wanted to start a family and a child. She still decided to take part in the 2016 Olympics, but as a result of a doping scandal, the Russian team was not allowed to attend the event.

Alexander Karelin

Alexander Karelin is not only an outstanding athlete, wrestler, three-time winner of the Olympic Games, but also a politician, deputy, Hero of Russia. The athlete has strong character and unique physical characteristics. For my professional career Alexander Karelin suffered only two defeats, but there were 887 victories.

At the age of 17, Alexander became a master of sports of the USSR, and already at 18 he became a world champion in youth competitions and a master of sports international class. Since 1987, Alexander Karelin has become European champion 11 times. In 1988, he won the Olympic Games for the first time.

In addition to sports, since 1995 Alexander has also worked in law enforcement agencies, tax. In 1999, the wrestler became a deputy State Duma, was re-elected 3 times.

Vladislav Tretiak

The legendary hockey player was born in 1952 in the Moscow region. Little Vlad’s sports career was determined immediately, because the child was born into a sports family. Although my parents did not play sports professionally, they instilled a love for healthy image life for children. Vladislav's mother was a physical education teacher, participated in competitions in Moscow, his father was a pilot who kept himself in excellent physical shape.

Since childhood, the boy has been studying different types sports, but at the age of eleven, Vladislav’s parents sent him to the hockey section, which is where his journey began. At first he was a striker, then he became a goalkeeper. At first, the father did not approve of this hobby, but when the boy began to earn money, he came to terms with his son’s choice. Since 1967, Vladislav Tretyak began training with the players of the CSKA team. Already at the age of 16 he was accepted into the main team.

The talented athlete has repeatedly amazed judges, critics and colleagues with his achievements. He turned out to be the youngest hockey champion when he won gold at the Olympic Games in 1972. But there were, of course, disappointing defeats. For example, at the 1980 Olympics in the United States of America, the USSR team lost to the local team, and Tretyak scored the lowest personal score. Fortunately, the setbacks were only temporary, and soon everything got better.

IN last time the legendary hockey player took to the ice in 1984. He decided to devote more time to his family and began working as a coach. It took less effort and time. In addition, the athlete was interested in politics for some time.

Lyubov Egorova

The future athlete was born in 1966 in the Tomsk region. I became interested in skiing as a child. She won the championship for the first time in 1980. At the age of 20, the girl joined the Soviet Union national team and became a leader at the World Championships in the USA. Her first truly significant international success came after winning two gold medals at the world championships in Italy in 1991. Like many other Soviet and Russian athletes, Lyubov Egorova, upon completion of her professional sports career went into politics. In 2011, for example, she was elected Chairman of the Commission on Physical Education and Sports Legislative Assembly St. Petersburg

Alexander Radulov - "Tasmanian Devil"

The Tasmanian Devil is a cartoon character who is a bundle of energy who incomprehensibly expresses his thoughts. According to Radulov's partner in Montreal, Paul Byron, the hockey player got this nickname because he is a “cheerful guy” who does not always speak clearly.

Evgeny Kuznetsov - "Harry Potter"

Kuznetsov received this nickname not for his external resemblance to the main character of "Potter" and not even for his love for the saga about the young magician. The fact is that the Russian masterfully wields a stick; as his colleagues noticed, in Kuznetsov’s hands it turns into a magic wand.

Igor Larionov - "Professor"

The hockey player was nicknamed “the professor” for his gaming literacy and strategic thinking on the field. In addition, Larionov wore glasses with round lenses - such a stereotype.

Sergey Gonchar – "Benjamin Button"

Goalkeeper Ben Bishop said that his colleague Sergei Gonchar is only getting younger over the years. For this, the Russian hockey player received the personal nickname of the hero of the story by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, “Championship” reports.

Alexey Kovalev – “The Artist”

The hockey player was nicknamed “the artist” not because of his passion for painting. According to colleagues, Kovalev is not just a player; on the ice, he is a real creator.

Ilya Bryzgalov - "Mr. Universe"

Bryzgalov's nickname was determined by chance. Or rather, a quote from the player. “Now I’m very interested in the question of the origin of the Universe - how did this even happen?” – the goalkeeper once asked himself a question. Since then, Bryzgalov has been called nothing less than “Mr. Universe.”

Vladimir Tarasenko - "Frank"

According to one version, the nickname "Frank" is a reference to the hero of the film "Old School" Frank Tank. And the point is not in the characteristics of the character, but in the fact that initially Tarasenko’s colleagues called him Tank for his powerful and uncompromising game, and then they decided to be a little more original.

Evgeni Malkin - "Hooligan"

Malkin's teammates have long known that he is ready to challenge any opponent. The Russian got his nickname for his rebellious spirit.

Artemiy Panarin – “Khlebushek”

Panarin is nicknamed "bread" after the Panera chain of American buns, which the athlete loves. The hockey player himself likes to joke about his nickname. “In general, I’m different. At night I try to be white, and in the morning I’m black. On weekends I’m sweet. I’m never callous,” Panarin said.

Pavel Datsyuk - "Houdini"

Datsyuk received the nickname at the suggestion of journalist Chris McCoskie. “He stoops a little when he walks, his gait resembles a crab. But as soon as Pavel steps on the ice, he turns into Houdini,” McCosky wrote about the Russian.

Who among us hasn’t come up with nicknames throughout our lives? This cup did not pass over the sports celestials either. Train, Anchor, Moo-Moo - and these are not all the nicknames they have to respond to

Sheva became Piggy Bank because of her fearlessness. Photo by Yu. Kuznetsov

The administrator of Dynamo Kyiv, Alexander Chubarov, is a treasure trove of the most incredible football stories. In particular, about how the stars of domestic football received their middle names - nicknames.

“Some timely spoken phrase was shortened, twisted and over time became the player’s nickname,” says Alexander Fedorovich, who is called Chub at Dynamo. “Many players had nicknames derived from their surname: Muntyan - Munya, Konkov - Konek. And Sasha Aliyev has a nickname - Hat. His hairstyle was like this - long curly hair. When he ran, his hair rose and took the shape of a hat. And his friend Milevsky, in addition to the well-known nickname Mil, has another one - Kryucha. That's how he was nicknamed from - because of his love for the dribble. His partners told him more than once: “Well, why don’t you twist as much as you can, pass the ball.” That’s how the “hook” got stuck. But in the Portuguese language there is a word - puta. Our Brazilians often used it, when they were dissatisfied with something. This habit was picked up by Nesmachny, who himself kept saying out loud - puta. As a result, this word “stuck” to Andrey as a nickname. Moreover, it was the South Americans who began to call him that. As for the Brazilians themselves, our newcomer Betao is addressed by the Senegalese Diakate as “Negro.”

To what was said by the Dynamo administrator, we will add that Aliyev is popular with fans and under the not very sweet nickname - Gadenysh. This is how Dynamo President Igor Surkis spoke about him in his hearts at one time, when Alexander was expelled from the youth team for violating the regime. So in a recent home match with Spartak, in which Aliyev opened the scoring, the fans saw him off the field chanting: “Ga-de-nysh!” According to the fans, by doing this they do not want to offend the midfielder, but on the contrary, they show what kind of player the footballer about whom they spoke so unflatteringly has turned into. “Honestly? I’m not at all offended to hear this word addressed to me,” Alexander told us.

“Some players came to Dynamo with already formed nicknames,” continues Chubarov. “For example, Dima Mikhailenko came from Dnepropetrovsk as the Beast, and Anatoly Demyanenko brought the nickname Mulya to us from Dnepr. When he was little, he called himself that. Relatives and friends picked it up, and Muley still call him to this day. His comrade Bessonov was also called Shkileya by the players because of his thinness. And Yuran began to be called Barsik after one story in the canteen. Being Dynamo's backup, he somehow sat down at the table where Bessonov, Bal, Demyanenko, Kuznetsov and I were sitting, and literally in a minute “sentenced” a glass of honey. I offered him mine - Sergei did not refuse. And when the guys asked if so much honey would harm him, Yuran answered , that he was not doing it for himself, but for Barsik, hinting at improving male strength. Since then, they call him Barsik. And even earlier we had a defender Sasha Sopko, he later moved to Shakhtar. So they called him - Beck. Short for Beckenbauer. In some ways he looked like the famous German."

Chubarov also recalled how Metalist player Alexander Baranov was nicknamed Gullit by his partners. “And during the break of the match, in which the Kharkov team was losing, their coach Lemeshko scolded his players. Filipich said to one of them, why didn’t you pass the pass? He replied: “I gave it to Gullit.” Lemeshko did not understand him either. They explained that this is what they call Baranov. Then Filipich turned to Baranov and said: “You are Gullit’s right buttock.” Since then, Sasha has not been called that anymore.”

And in the 90s, according to Chubarov, midfielder Yuri Maksimov was a specialist in the distribution of “drives” at Dynamo. “Once during training, the still young Andrei Shevchenko got his head into the fight for the ball with a defender and got hit on the forehead with a boot,” recalls Alexander Fedorovich. “Immediately he had a bright abrasion from the thorns. And Maksimov shouted to him: “Kiggy bank, pass the pass, don’t mess around.” ". And Sasha Koval played at Shakhtar. When he came to the national team with long hair, Maksimov called him Father. And even when he later cut his hair, the nickname remained with him."

It is not known for certain which of Dynamo’s partners was the first to call Vladislav Vashchuk the Anchor (the last defender, if you build the team vertically, will indeed be the “deepest” link among the field players), but it was this “fated” word that became his nickname. But Valery Lobanovsky remained in history under several nicknames. “In appearance, he was cold and inaccessible. So they called him Iceberg,” says Chubarov. “Foreigners called him Colonel. And in the Emirates, another one was added to him - Gloomy Bear. Clogs were sometimes called Hutsul among themselves. As for Mikhail Koman (who won USSR Cup and has been working on the coaching staff of Dynamo teams for decades. - Author), then the nickname Mu-Mu was assigned to him because of his initials - M.M."

FOR BROKEN TABLES BECAME A "TRAIN"

Vitaly Potapenko, who played in the NBA for more than ten years, earned the nickname “Ukrainian Train” at the dawn of his American career. The history of the nickname is quite funny. In one of his matches for the university team, Vitaly, saving a ball that was flying out of bounds, flew into the referee's tables. Even then, our guy didn’t complain about the size, and the tables were simply destroyed. Potap got the ball (it became customary to shorten Vitaly’s last name since his performances for the Kiev “Budivelnik”), and at the same time received a nickname for all subsequent years. It turned out to be quite suitable, taking into account the fact that at one time “Train” was one of the five heaviest players in the strongest league in the world. Potap himself, however, clarifies that the nickname stuck to him not only thanks to that incident, but also to his aggressive and forceful manner of play.

It’s impossible not to mention Volchok, that is, sorry, our legendary basketball player, Olympic champion Alexandra Volkova. The nickname of Alexander Anatolyevich passed on to the mascot of the club he created. And the players of BC “Kyiv” themselves are usually called “wolves”, and the team’s emblem also features a wolf...

The unusual nickname will never leave the former basketball player and now young coach Denis Zhuravlev. His name is Melon. “Once in Budivelnik, one literate person wrote my name with an “i” - “Dinis,” recalls Zhuravlev. “They laughed, and in the end they began to call me “Melon.” The basketball player is not offended. Moreover, at one time he I was seriously thinking about ordering a game jersey for myself, where it would say not “Zhuravlev”, but “Melon”.

HIS AIR. In the entire history of the NBA, it is impossible to remember a great player who would not have been awarded a second name. The best of the best, Michael Jordan, was called “His airness.” In the mid-80s, one of the sports companies made Michael the face of their advertising campaign, launching the production of Air Jordan sneakers. Thanks to this and his ability to “fly” and not jump, as many claimed, Michael got this nickname.

Everyone in the world knows one of the leaders of Russian basketball, Andrei Kirilenko, as AK-47 (Kalashnikov assault rifle). The letters A and K correspond to his initials, and the number 47 corresponds to his jersey number.

"BIG CHUCKY" - IVANCHUK

Chess players are creative people, so they are creative in coming up with nicknames for their colleagues. Often based on the opponent's play. The era of Garry Kasparov began in the eighties. The grandmaster's victories were so impressive that he was immediately dubbed the “Baku Cannibal.”

For his uncompromising style of play, the legendary Viktor Korchnoi earned the nickname "Victor the Terrible". Sometimes they jokingly called him “The Villain”; he could “steal” from his opponent his seemingly already won game.

Another famous grandmaster Mikhail Tal worked miracles at the board, which is why they called him “The Wizard from Riga”, “Chess Wizard”, “Romantic”...

The current leader of world chess, Vishy Anand, received the nickname “Tiger of Madras” for his quick thinking and precise moves. Everyone calls Briton Michael Adams "Spider-Man" for his playing style.

The young Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen (almost the namesake of the fabulous Carlson) is simply called “Baby”.

The famous Ukrainian grandmaster Vasily Ivanchuk also has a nickname. Colleagues cut him English version the surname Ivanchuk to chuk, and for outstanding successes they added big, so they call it Big Chucky.

HOW HOP BECAME SEAGULL

— In Dynamo Kiev and the Union team they called me, without further ado, Hops. But in Donetsk I had a very interesting nickname - Chaika. Moreover, it “stuck” as a result of an incident that I myself unwittingly initiated,” says Vitaly Khmelnitsky, ex-forward of Shakhtar, Dynamo Kyiv and the USSR national team. — It happened in 1962 in Moscow, on the eve of the national Cup final. We are going from the hotel to Luzhniki. There is silence on the bus, everyone is focused on the upcoming match. And only Savelyev and Ananchenko are busy doing the crossword puzzle. They turn to me: “Hop, you grew up at sea (Khmelnitsky is a graduate of Mariupol football - Author). Come on, sea ​​bird of nine letters?" Apparently, they meant albatross. But out of surprise, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind: seagull. And I still stutter a little, so I just got nine letters: "W-w- ch-ch-seagull." Everyone laughed. Oshenkov immediately: "What is it? What kind of laughter? Have you forgotten where we’re going?” And since then this “Seagull” has stuck to me.

SON OF A WITCHER AND DOUBLE OF VLADIMIR PUTIN

Michael Reiziger - Gas mask. The Dutch defender received his nickname due to the structural features of the skull: a strongly protruding occipital part and jaws.

Juan Sebastian Veron - Little Sorcerer, Witcher. Father Veron, also a famous Argentine football player, was nicknamed the Sorcerer for his amazing tricks with the ball. The nickname was inherited by his son.

David Beckham - Spice Boy. England player's wife Victoria for a long time performed as part of the popular British pop group Spice Girls.

Rene Higuita is a Scorpio. This Colombian goalkeeper is remembered for performing a fantastically beautiful and complex “scorpion kick” - falling forward, he kicked the ball out of the penalty area with his heels. It was first demonstrated at Wembley in the England-Columbia match.

Casey Keller - Putin. The US team goalkeeper got his nickname from the English and American journalists for his resemblance to the President of Russia.

Oliver Kahn - Genghis Khan. The goalkeeper was called that by his Bayern teammates because of the phonetic similarity of his surname to the name of the famous Mongolian khan.

Bernd Schneider - Firefighter. The Germany midfielder is part of a volunteer brigade fighting the fire.