Euro 2020: How to pronounce players’ names correctly | OneFootball

Euro 2020 kicks off on Friday - or perhaps it’s already well underway by the time you read this - and it feels a bit like Christmas Eve for football fans.

There’s nothing quite like a major international tournament, is there?

And following a 12-month delay, all of us are salivating at the prospect of watching wall-to-wall international football between June 11-July 11.

In the build-up to the tournament, UEFA have published a guide explaining how to pronounce various players’ names correctly.

Most of the 24 national teams feature - although England don’t because, UEFA say, the names of Gareth Southgate’s stars are “all pretty simple”.

It turns out that we’ve all been saying the names of certain players incorrectly throughout their entire careers.

For example, did you know that the Portuguese defender Pepe is pronounced ‘Pep’ (like Guardiola) and not ‘Pep-eh’?

His international teammates Bruno Fernandes (‘Fur-nandsh’) and Ruben Neves (’Nevsh’) also rarely receive the correct pronunciations on their names by football fans in the UK.

Let’s have a closer look at the guide in full…

Austria

UEFA: “Basic German-language rules apply – note that an umlauted 'ä', 'ö' or 'ü' sounds something similar to 'ae', 'oe', 'ue' in English.”

Stefan Lainer – LinerPhilipp Lienhart – Leen-hartAlessandro Schöpf – SherpfKarim Onisiwo – Onni-see-voSasa Kalajdzic – Sasha Kal-ide-jitch

Belgium

UEFA: “Some names are pronounced the Flemish way, and some the French way.”

Toby Alderweireld – Al-der-way-reldMichy Batshuayi – Bat-shoe-a-yiTimothy Castagne – Cast-an-yerThibaut Courtois – Tee-bo Cor-twaThomas Meunier – Muh-nee-aySimon Mignolet – Min-yo-letThomas Vermaelen – Ver-mah-len

Croatia

UEFA: "Basic rules: 'š' is a 'sh', 'č' and 'ć' are a bit like an English 'ch', and 'j' approximates to an English ‘y’.”

Milan Badelj – Bad-el-eeLuka Ivanušec – Eevan-oo-shetsMislav Oršić – Orsh-itchŠime Vrsaljko – Shi-may Ver-sal-ee-ko

Czech Republic

UEFA: “Accents on vowels indicate where the pronunciation should be stressed (so ‘Tomáš’ is more like ‘Tom-aash’ for English speakers). An 'š' is a 'sh', a 'č' is a 'ch', but 'c' is more like a 'ts'. And 'ř' is a bit like 'rj' in English.”

Jan Bořil – Yan BorjilOndřej Čelůstka – Ondjay Chell-oost-kaAdam Hložek – H-lozhekTomáš Holeš – HolleshPavel Kadeřábek – Kadder-jah-beckAleš Matějů – Alesh Mattay-ooJiří Pavlenka – Yeer-zheeJakub Pešek – PesheckPetr Ševčík – Shev-cheekTomáš Vaclík – Vatz-leek

Denmark

UEFA: “That ‘æ’ character is widely misunderstood among English speakers, while a ‘g’ tends to be much softer than it looks.”

Simon Kjær – CarePierre-Emile Højbjerg – Hoy-byerJonas Lössl – Yo-nass LusselJoakim Mæhle – May-lehFrederik Rønnow – Rern-oh

Finland

UEFA: “Vowels and accents can make a language more treacherous than it first appears (a Finnish ‘ä’ sounds much like the English ‘a’ in ‘hat’).”

Nikolai Alho – Arl-hohPaulus Arajuuri – Ara-yoo-reeJasin Assehnoun – Asser-knownNicholas Hämäläinen – Hama-lay-nenLukas Hradecky – Lukash RadetskiJuhani Ojala – O-yallaTeemu Pukki – PookySauli Väisänen – Vay-san-en

France

UEFA: “The vowels often confound English speakers. So do the consonants.”

Lucas Digne – Loo-cah Dee-nyuhOlivier Giroud – Ol-iv-ee-eh Ji-rooAntoine Griezmann – On-twan Gree-ez-manN'Golo Kanté – N-go-lo Kon-tayClément Lenglet – Long-laySteve Mandanda – Stev Mon-don-dahMike Meignan – Mane-yohMarcus Thuram – Too-ram

Germany

UEFA: “An umlaut on 'ä', 'ö' or 'ü' is comparable to 'ae', 'oe', 'ue' in English. Note: Joshua Kimmich – 'ich' as in "ich bin ein Berliner" rather than Baby You're A Rich Man.”

Manuel Neuer – Noy-ahİlkay Gündoğan – Eel-kay Goon-doe-wanEmre Can – JanJoshua Kimmich – Kim-ikh

Hungary

UEFA: “One of the few European languages that do not belong to the Indo-European group, Hungarian is not as percussive-sounding as it looks.”

Tamás Cseri – Tom-ash CherryDénes Dibusz – Day-nesh Di-boosPéter Gulácsi – Pay-ter Goo-lat-chiÁkos Kecskés – Ah-kosh Ketch-kay-shGergő Lovrencsics – Ger-gur Lov-ren-chitchÁdám Nagy – Nah-dgeSzabolcs Schön – Saw-bolch ShernAttila Szalai – Saw-law-ee

Italy

UEFA: “The commonly-made mistake is to pronounce a 'ch' like an English 'ch' – it is more like a 'k'. Lorenzo Insigne is a tough one to get spot on – linguists may note that his 'gn' works like a Spanish ‘ñ’.”

Federico Bernardeschi – Ber-nar-desk-eeGiorgio Chiellini – Jor-joe Key-eh-lean-eeFederico Chiesa – Kee-ay-sahAlessio Cragno – Cran-yoLorenzo Insigne – In-sin-yuh

Netherlands

UEFA: “The gg sound is like the Scottish 'loch'. The ‘ij’ doesn’t have a direct English equivalent, but is softer than the 'i' sound in 'fine' (and more like the Scottish 'aye', or 'why'). The 'ou' is more pronounced than the English 'out' – it’s like 'ah-ou' run together; so think of the 'ow' when you bang your elbow on a doorframe.”

Steven Bergwijn – Stay-ven Berugg-why-nMatthijs de Ligt – Mat-ice Dull-ichtMarten de Roon – Der-ownStefan de Vrij – Stay-fon Duh-frayQuincy Promes – Pro-messDonny van de Beek – Fun der-bakeWout Weghorst – Vowt Vegg-horstGeorginio Wijnaldum – Why-naldumOwen Wijndal – Whyne-dal

North Macedonia

UEFA: “North Macedonian names are transliterated from the Cyrillic alphabet so the hard work should have been done for you, but there are a few hazardous ones out there.”

Visar Musliu – Moos-lyooVlatko Stojanovski – Stoyan-ovskiAleksandar Trajkovski – Try-kovskiIvan Trickovski – Tritch-kovski

Poland

UEFA: “Polish is a much softer-sounding language than all the 'k's and 'z's would suggest. A 'Ł' or 'ł' is rather like an English 'w', while the subscript accent on an 'ę' or an 'ą' subtly adds an 'n' to the vowel.”

Bartosz Bereszyński – Berresh-in-skeePaweł Dawidowicz – Dav-id-ov-itchŁukasz Fabiański – Woo-cash Fab-yan-skiKamil Jóźwiak – Yoz-vee-akTomasz Kędziora – Kend-zyor-aDawid Kownacki – Kov-nats-keeKacper Kozłowski – Kos-lov-skeeRobert Lewandowski – Lev-and-ov-skiKamil Piątkowski – Pyont-kov-skeePrzemysław Płacheta – Pwa-shettaTymoteusz Puchacz – Pook-atchJakub Świerczok – Shfair-chockWojciech Szczęsny – Voy-chekh Sh-chen-sni

Portugal

UEFA: “Contrary to what most English speakers imagine, Portuguese sounds very different to Spanish. The 'r' at the start of Rui or Renato is a little bit like a rolled 'r' in French. The second vowels in 'Lopes' and 'Neves' get squashed down into a 'sh' – e.g. Lopsh, Nevsh.”

Anthony Lopes – LopshBruno Fernandes – Fur-nandshDiogo Jota – Dee-ohg ZhottaGonçalo Guedes – Gon-sarlo Gair-dissRaphael Guerreiro – Ge-ray-roJoão Félix – Joo-wow Fay-lixJoão Moutinho – Joo-wow Mo-teen-ooJoão Palhinha – Joo-wow Pal-een-aPedro Gonçalves – Gon-salvshPepe – Pep (not 'Pep-eh')Rúben Neves – Nevsh

Russia

UEFA: “Vowel sounds and the way they are stressed present the biggest challenges for English speakers, with common first names often not sounding exactly like their transcribed equivalents – hence Igor = Igar, Roman = Raman, Denis = Dinis, Oleg = Aleg.”

Igor Diveev – Div-ay-evArtem Dzyuba – Jooba

Scotland

UEFA: “Most native English speakers will be on safe ground.”

Jon McLaughlin – Mick-lock-linKieran Tierney – Teer-ni

Slovakia

UEFA: “Rules similar to Czech: an 'š' is a 'sh', a 'č' is a 'ch', but a 'c' is more like a 'ts'. Meanwhile, 'Ď' – with its superscript accent – sounds something like the 'dg' in 'hedge’.”

Michal Ďuriš – Djoo-rishMarek Hamšík – Ham-sheekPatrik Hrošovský – Hroshov-skeeTomáš Hubočan – Hoo-bo-chanDušan Kuciak – Koo-tsee-ackJuraj Kucka – Koots-kaMilan Škriniar – Shkrin-ee-arDávid Strelec – Strell-ets

Spain

UEFA: “Getting it right is tough for the uninitiated, but the following pronunciations may get you a bit closer. César Azpilicueta's Chelsea team-mates famously nicknamed him 'Dave' to avoid the difficulty of saying his surname.”

César Azpilicueta – Ath-pili-coo-et-aSergio Busquets – Boo-sketsDavid de Gea – De-hay-ehDiego and Marcos Llorente – Lorentay

Sweden

UEFA: “That ‘g’ at the end of surnames sounds a lot like an English ‘y’; the 'j' also sounds like a 'y', while the first 'o' in many surnames is pronounced more akin to a 'u'. Where there's an 'rs' combo, it is an English 'sh’.”

Marcus Berg – BerryEmil Forsberg – Fosh-berrySebastian Larsson – La-shonVictor Lindelöf – Lin-de-loveRobin Olsen – Ul-senMattias Svanberg – Svan-berry

Switzerland

UEFA: “In addition to Switzerland's mix of native languages – French, Swiss German and Italian – the prominence of players with Albanian, Kosovar and Turkish roots makes things even more exciting.”

Eray Cömert – Jo-mertBreel Embolo – BrailBecir Omeragic – Bess-eer Omer-adjitchFabian Schär – ShareXherdan Shaqiri – Jer-dan Sha-chee-reeGranit Xhaka – Jakka

Turkey

UEFA: “Umlauts do a similar job as in the Germanic languages, making an 'ş' a little like an English 'sh' and a 'c' more like a 'j'. The problem characters are the 'ğ' and the dotless 'ı' – both of which are very subtle sounds.”

Kerem Aktürkoğlu – Actur-koch-looAltay Bayındır – BaynderUğurcan Çakır – Ooroojan Chak-rHakan Çalhanoğlu – Chalha-no-looZeki Çelik – CheleekHalil İbrahim Dervişoğlu – Darvish-oh-looİrfan Can Kahveci – Car-vay-jeeEfecan Karaca – Efferjan KarajaOrkun Kökçü – Kerk-chooÇağlar Söyüncü – Cha-la Ser-yoon-chooYusuf Yazıcı – Yaz-idger

Ukraine

UEFA: “Transcribed – like Russian – from the Cyrillic alphabet, Ukrainian is notably easier to pronounce. Names largely sound like they look in print. The number of 'y's might throw some English speakers, so it's worth noting that they can generally be treated as English 'i's. An 'iy' is approximately the same as an English 'ee' – hence 'Andriy' = 'Und-ree’.”

Heorhii Sudakov – GeorgieViktor Tsygankov – Zee-gan-kov

Wales

UEFA: “Mostly straightforward, but just in case …”

Chris Mepham – Mepp-um

Very interesting!

Commentators will no doubt be swatting up as we speak, while you can impress your mates down the pub this summer with your best impression of Çağlar Söyüncü (‘Cha-la Ser-yoon-choo’).

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