Argentina Vs Peru: All the nicknames to know before the big game
In the grand tradition of football, the team line-ups in the crucial World Cup qualifier have a surfeit of evocative nicknames.
By Akshay Sawai, ET Bureau |
Poetic epithets have played no small part in the romance of football. Pele was the Black Pearl. Maradona was El Pibe de Oro (The Golden Boy). Johan Cruyff was The Flying Dutchman.
Nicknames will once again be conspicuous on Friday morning, when Lionel Messi plays arguably the second-most important match of his international career (the 2014 World Cup final was the first). Argentina take on Peru in a virtually must-win World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires. Nearly every player on both sides has a nickname. The name of the venue, La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) is a nickname too. And the two teams have nicknames of their own.
Let’s run through some of them.
La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box)
The throbbing home of Boca Juniors gets its name from its shape, which resembles a box of treats.
There will be a few consumed if Argentina manage to get the job done on Friday.
La Albiceleste (The white and sky blue)
The name draws from the colours of the Argentinian national flag and the team shirt.
The Incas
Peru’s national team pays homage to its past with this nickname. The squad is also called La Blanquirroja (The white and red), once again, due to the colours of the flag.
La Pulga Atomica (The Atomic Flea)
He’s fast, he’s small, he’s Lionel Messi.
(Image: Reuters)
He’s young, he’s a wizard on the ball, he’s Paulo Dybala, Argentina’s newest star with Maradona-like dribbling potential.
(Image: Reuters)
Chiquito (The Little One)
Sergio Romero, Argentina’s goalkeeper, is a strapping 6'3". But he is short compared to his brothers. Oh, the travails of being a sibling.
(Image: Reuters)
La Foquita (The Little Seal)
Seals can do anything with a ball. And so can the Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan (when he’s fit).
(Image: AP)
The Warrior
Paolo Guerrero is Peru’s highest goal scorer, and deserving of his moniker.
El Orejas (Big Ears)
Peru winger Edison Flores’s pen name is a sign of affection, not mockery.
And it’s just as well, given the applause that falls on his ears.
Nicknames will once again be conspicuous on Friday morning, when Lionel Messi plays arguably the second-most important match of his international career (the 2014 World Cup final was the first). Argentina take on Peru in a virtually must-win World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires. Nearly every player on both sides has a nickname. The name of the venue, La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) is a nickname too. And the two teams have nicknames of their own.
Let’s run through some of them.
La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box)
The throbbing home of Boca Juniors gets its name from its shape, which resembles a box of treats.
There will be a few consumed if Argentina manage to get the job done on Friday.
La Albiceleste (The white and sky blue)
The name draws from the colours of the Argentinian national flag and the team shirt.
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The Incas
Peru’s national team pays homage to its past with this nickname. The squad is also called La Blanquirroja (The white and red), once again, due to the colours of the flag.
La Pulga Atomica (The Atomic Flea)
He’s fast, he’s small, he’s Lionel Messi.
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(Image: Reuters)
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La Joya (The Jewel)He’s young, he’s a wizard on the ball, he’s Paulo Dybala, Argentina’s newest star with Maradona-like dribbling potential.
(Image: Reuters)
Chiquito (The Little One)
Sergio Romero, Argentina’s goalkeeper, is a strapping 6'3". But he is short compared to his brothers. Oh, the travails of being a sibling.
(Image: Reuters)
La Foquita (The Little Seal)
Seals can do anything with a ball. And so can the Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan (when he’s fit).
(Image: AP)
The Warrior
Paolo Guerrero is Peru’s highest goal scorer, and deserving of his moniker.
El Orejas (Big Ears)
Peru winger Edison Flores’s pen name is a sign of affection, not mockery.
And it’s just as well, given the applause that falls on his ears.
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