Egyptian soccer passes flamboyant nickname tradition to next generation Cairo (AFP) – Ranging from the presidential such as Obama to the abstract like Kahraba (electricity) or El Winch, the tradition of Egyptian footballers taking bizarre nicknames is alive and kicking.
The flamboyant and sometimes satirical naming of players was prominently employed by Badr Ragab, a youth coach at Egypt’s most successful club Al-Ahly during the 1980s, as he handed out nicknames to his young squad.
“When I was a coach of the youth team at Al-Ahly, I decided to dish out nicknames to my players for a few reasons. I dreamt that they would become international stars and wanted to motivate them to work hard by emulating well-known footballers,” he told AFP.