86: Trezeguet, Egypt, FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, Panini Official Licensed Sticker Album

In the seemingly endless debate on the greatest footballer of all time you rarely hear the names Edson Arantes do Nascimento or Arthur Antunes Coimbra mentioned. However, if you were to refer to them as Pele or Zico you might have less trouble recognising their names. In fact a whole host of Brazilian stars over the years have taken on a shortened form of their name or a childhood nickname on their path to global stardom. Ronaldo de Assis Moreira went by the name Ronaldinho from the age of eight owing to his small stature and the fact some bloke called Ronaldo was already quite well known. Givanildo Vieira de Sousa got the nickname Hulk due to his stocky build and his resemblance to 1970s actor and embodiment of the green Marvel superhero Lou Ferrigno. This is particularly impressive seeing as he looks nothing like him.

 

As we can see from today’s sticker this phenomenon is not unique to Brazil and, ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the world beyond those familiar with the Turkish Super Lig were introduced to the Egyptian striker Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan going by the name of Trezeguet. When Emlyn, Rich and I came across his name in our Panini albums we were instantly intrigued. Surely this man wasn’t actually named after the former French striker David Trezeguet? If he were that would make us really old. And surely there were other players from that glorious French side who followed up their World Cup success on home soil in 1998 with victory in Euro 2000 you could name your kids after? Maybe this young man’s parents really loved golden goals or had an immense dislike for Cristophe Duggary. What was clear was this couldn’t be a nickname as, having acquired his sticker, it was clear he looked nothing like his namesake.

As it transpired Trezeguet was more Hulk than Ronaldinho, both on and off the pitch, and his sobriquet came from a former youth coach who saw likenesses between young Mahmoud and the French striker in both their playing style and appearance. Whilst I feel unqualified to criticise this coach for his ability to develop young footballing talent he clearly wasn’t anywhere near as adept at identifying similarities in people’s faces. Additionally, in terms of physical stature, the Frenchman is a good four inches taller than his Egyptian namesake. Therefore it must come down to their identical approaches to the beautiful game.

 

It’s unfair to make a direct comparison to the two men as David has long since retired and today’s subject is only 25 but I’ll see what I can do. By the age of 25 David Trezeguet had racked up 109 goals in 203 club appearances for Monaco and Juventus and 20 goals in 40 international caps to go with his World Cup and European Championship winning medals not to mention the ‘golden goal’ that secured the latter trophy for his nation. His Egyptian counterpart has managed 46 goals in 223 club appearances for Al Ahly, Kasimpasa and Aston Villa to go with 6 goals in his 41 international caps and a runner’s up medal from the 2017 African Cup of Nations. The statistics seem to favour the retired Frenchman.

 

But who cares about statistics? After an inauspicious start in the Premier League, including a red card against Crystal Palace, Trezeguet earned the plaudits of Ian Wright following his first goal for Villa against eventual champions Liverpool. His injury-time winner against Leicester City sent Villa to their first League Cup final in ten years. Perhaps most significantly, after the Covid-19 enforced break in the 2019/20 season, the Egyptian netted important winning goals against Palace and Arsenal to save the Villans from relegation and secure them another season in the top flight.

 

In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare asked ‘What’s in a name?’ If Trezeguet’s anything to go by it seems that dramatic goals are never far away regardless of what you look like.