Ziko, Trezeguet, Dunga: how Egypt internationals got their nicknames | OneFootball

Mostafa Ziko and Trezeguet scored as Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1 to record their first World Cup win, though neither plays under his real name.

According to L'Équipe, nicknames drawn from football icons are a long-standing Egyptian habit from youth level, with Karim Nedved and Ahmed Ramadan, known as Beckham, among the best-known examples.

Ziko’s given name is Mostafa Mohamed Zaky Abdelraouf. His older brother Abdel-Raouf was already called Zico on the pitch, a nod to their surname Zaky and the Brazilian great. Abdel-Raouf told AFP coaches first dubbed Mostafa petit Zico because he was the younger brother, the shorter Ziko then stuck.

Mahmoud Hassan came off the bench to make it safe with a diving header. The Al-Ahly winger has 97 caps and featured at the 2018 World Cup. As a youngster under coach Badr Ragab, AFP reported he was likened to David Trézeguet for his appearance and aerial finishing, and the nickname endured.

Another in Egypt’s 26-player squad, Nabil Emad, stayed on the bench against New Zealand but is widely known as Dunga, after Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning captain. The tag dates to his early days in the Second Division, when Al Assiouty, now Pyramids FC, spotted him and Wael Habib, who signed him in 2014, admired the Brazilian and saw a similar style. Now 30 and at Al-Najma in Saudi Arabia, he is at his second major finals after AFCON 2019 and still awaits his first World Cup minutes.

Source: L'Équipe