6 world football stars Ghanaians gave funny names like 'Ohemaa Messi'

The passion that oozes through the utterances, comments and reactions concerning football can make you laugh, annoy you or just make you sad. In other words football plays on the emotions of every Ghanaian.

Football has done so to the extent that Ghanaians have given nicknames to these popular players of both past and present who have made their mark in the world over.

We look at these names and deduce the roots of such names being called by these players.

Lionel Messi A.K.A “Ohemaa Messi”

Lionel Messi is arguably the most talented footballer on the planet and has five FIFA world best player accolades to his name. Ohemaa Mercy is an award winning gospel musician in Ghana.

The name and Mercy was given to Messi simply as a pun since Mercy and Messi are practically pronounced the same way. Ohemaa in the Ghanaian parlance translates to Queen as the gospel singer is a female.

Messi’s proverbial royal status as the king of football and the pun of the gospel singer combines to give Lionel Messi Ghana’s unique nickname dubbed “Ohemaa Messi”.

Cristiano Ronaldo A.K.A C-Nana

Cristiano Ronaldo is the current FIFA Men’s best player of the year. He also has five world best player awards to his name and can be undoubtedly referred to as a king. He is a talented footballer with the knack of scoring goals and his fans in Ghana passionately call him “C-NANA”. The C as we all know is the first letter of the Portuguese star’s name Cristiano. The Nana is a local title given to kings in Ghana. These two names show that the Ghanaian public revere Ronaldo and Messi as royalty.

Pele A.K.A World Pele

Edson Arantes do Nascimento is popularly known the world over as “Pele”. There is a Ghanaian football legend who was bestowed the name in his playing days. Abedi Ayew Pele is his name. Abedi Pele is the father of Andre and Jordan Ayew, These two payers ply their trade in the English Premier League.

Ghanaians in order to make that distinction between Abedi Pele and Pele refer to the latter as “World Pele”. The Brazilian legendary player has also paid his dues in world football. The player yields 3 out of the 5 FIFA world cups Brazil has ever won. He also belongs to the number of few players in the world to have scored 1000+ career goals. The “world” title certainly comes from the global achievements of Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

Carlos Tevez A.K.A “Abanga Tevez”

The Argentine striker has really made his mark in the English Premier League and Italian Serie A. Carlos Tevez in his prime was almost every defenders nightmare. The player had the power to tear through defenses and find the ball at the back of the net.

He is popularly known by Ghanaian football lovers at as “Abanga”. Kofi Abanga is a former player for Accra Hearts of Oak. In 2007, Kofi Abanga got himself in a real protracted saga that saw him ditch Kumasi Asante Kotoko to play for Accra Hearts of Oak. This was after Kotoko had agreed with Aduana Stars. In that same year Carlos Tevez was involved in a transfer saga between Inter Milan and Manchester United as he sought to make a move from West Ham. Tevez’s transfer case ended up with the Court of Arbitration.

The two players involved in these transfer saga got each other’s name in the Ghanaian football community. They were both referred to as Kofi Abanga Tevez and Carlos “Abanga” Tevez.

Wayne Rooney A.K.A “Baby Rooney”

The Everton player who has retired from the England international set up is known in these parts of the world as “Baby Rooney”. The reason behind the name is quite interesting. Wayne Rooney in was young striker in his prime from 2005 to 2009. In that same time zone had a striker in the Ghana Premier League having the time of his life.

Kwame Obeng Darko who played for Liberty Professionals and later on transferred to Kumasi Asante Kotoko was given the name “Baby Rooney” in his hay days. Kwame Obeng Darko went off the radar with the name implanted in the minds of Ghanaians transferred that name to Wayne Rooney.

Romelu Lukaku A.K.A King Luka

The most recent one is surrounding the Manchester United player Romelu Lukaku. The Manchester United fans in Ghana refer to him as “King Luka” and I know you were promised the roots of all the nicknames here but with this one there is no vivid root. He is a king to the Manchester United fans perhaps and the first four letters are Lukaku are L.U.K.A so there you go.

Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck

I know you're thinking Nii Tackie was a nickname. No. It's actually Danny Welbeck's name.