Apparently, it is a condition that soccer players, as in the sicaresque paisa, lose their name and acquire the characteristics of Noah’s Ark. Julián García Candau, author of “Epic and lyrical football”, gives examples from Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, among other football contexts, to show that the nickname is a kind of baptism of the street.
The football universe can be divided into sections of very different order according to the nicknames of the players. There is, however, one predominant trend: Noah’s Ark .
Julian Garcia Candau
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I have just read the book Epic and lyrical football, by Julián García Candau, and I was left with the feeling that football has been poeticized more than it has been read. It is a text that shows the best poems dedicated to football, but also compiles historical, political and sociological analyzes of this phenomenon that is played, narrated, sung and told. The title itself is an invitation to read texts in Spanish, Portuguese and other languages that allude to the relationship between war and aesthetics, battle and art, struggle and the forms of beauty, that is, the relationship between poetry and football. The most amazing thing about the book is that there are names that the literary world immediately recognizes from their classic works, but there is a curiosity: multiple authors wrote to football, strange, strange, because it was frowned upon for intellectuals to attend stadiums and write about “that human stupidity.” Names and texts of authors such as Rabelais, Machado, Shakespeare, Alberti, Pemán and Miguel Hernández appear.
We suggest: The names of football (I)
A section dedicated to nicknames caught my attention and I think it is worth reviewing it for the curiosities that make up the text. Apparently, it is a condition that soccer players, as in the sicaresque paisa, lose their name and acquire the characteristics of Noah’s Ark. In addition, the author gives examples from Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, among other football contexts, to show that the nickname is a kind of street baptism, a renaissance that acquires fabulous characteristics, that is inserted into the culture and remains , even with the consent of the players themselves, because it is the second skin, that of the animal that is represented.
I am not going to list the players who have a nickname, badge, epithet or nickname, because it would be endless and would not be enough for everyone. I invite you to read the text to notice that there are also nicknames about fauna and flora, about the characteristics of kings, princes and other social elites. In all cases, there is a constant: the name is lost and another is recovered, but one that comes from the animal, mineral or plant kingdom. (With sacred connotations). Meanwhile, I leave you with the ones I know, because I played with them in my childhood. I’m not telling you mine because, after thinking about it, reviewing it, resisting it, accepting it, whoever assigned it to me was right. The great human complexes begin in the game for the game and end in the game for the life. My teammates were: Bugío, Chichimoco, Malafacha, Pelusa, Juanmalo, Javi, El mono, Plancho, Pastelito, Patisucio, Carenalga and Tiburcio. To be baptized in soccer is to earn a place in the best team in the world. Some very recognized: the Black Spider, the Ayala Mouse, the Diarte Wolf, the Puma Morete and the Charlton Giraffe. Make your lists.
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