Puns guaranteed: Sport not only delivers results, but also names that seem made for their roles - from Wolfgang Wolf in Wolfsburg to Swiss service man Roger Wachs.
A change of coach at Fortuna Düsseldorf attracted attention far beyond the second Bundesliga at the weekend. The reason: coach Markus Anfang was sacked and replaced by Alexander Ende. So the beginning was the beginning to the end, but then the end, if you like. All the puns quickly went around the German-speaking world.
However, it is not uncommon for names in sport to make people smile. The 18-year-old super sprinter Gout Gout, for example, also shone this weekend, running the 200 meters in 19.67 seconds.
Here is a selection of other athletes' names that couldn't be more fitting.
Wolfgang Wolf at Wolfsburg
Football coach Wolfgang Wolf was coach at VfL Wolfsburg from 1998 to 2003.
Athletics coach Kai Kraft
From 2014 to 2024, RB Leipzig's athletics coach was Kai Kraft. We hope the name was not a program, because Kraft has been without a club for two years. If only his parents had named him Phil.
Max Power - the hero of all video games
Max Power has more strength in his name than Kai Kraft. But the English professional footballer never made it into the Premier League at the age of 32. However, he did play 88 games in the second-tier Championship.
Ross County sign goalkeepers by name
In the 2020/21 season, Scottish second division club Ross County signed four goalkeepers. Three of them had Ross as their first name. The fourth was called Logan on his first name - but Ross on his surname.
When the whole stadium laughs
In 2022, Franco Foda was coach at FC Zurich for 18 games. He is now the national coach of Kosovo. His name is not funny in this country. In Portuguese, however, Franco Foda means something like "fuck for free".
He first became aware of this in 1987, when Foda played with the German national team in Brazil and made his international debut there. When he was substituted for Franz Beckenbauer in the 87th minute, the 30,000 fans in Brazil went wild. Foda said afterwards that he only found out the next day why there was so much excitement when his substitution was announced.
When your initials predict your fate
Just three years ago, Ivan Toney was one of the best players in the Premier League. He scored 36 goals in 85 games in the top English league. In May 2023, however, the striker was banned for eight months for breaching betting regulations. It didn't take long for the English press to present the full initials of Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney: IBET, which means 'I bet' in German.
Cyclist Marco Velo
There are not only suitable names in football, but also in other sports. The fact that the Italian Marco Velo became a professional cyclist is self-explanatory.
Roger Wachs
The head serviceman of the Swiss biathlon and cross-country skiing team is Roger Wachs. Hardly anything can go wrong.
Dong Dong
Dong Dong is an Olympic champion and eleven-time world champion in trampolining. His name in combination with his sport is probably the most beautiful example of onomatopoeia, or onomatopoeia.
