Neil Lennon’s fiery message led to Beram Kayal naming his son Pirlo

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The Celtic Star

·18 luglio 2025

Neil Lennon’s fiery message led to Beram Kayal naming his son Pirlo

Former Celtic midfielder Beram Kayal has revealed that a fiery dressing down from Neil Lennon ultimately inspired him to name his son Pirlo…

22.10.2013. Beram Kayal doubles Celtic’s lead during the Champions League game between Celtic and Ajax at Celtic Park. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou

The 37 year-old Israeli playmaker hung up his boots last week following a spell with Bnei Sakhnin in his home country.

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During his five years at Celtic between 2010-2015, Kayal won six domestic honours before making the switch to Brighton a decade ago. While at Celtic, he featured in the Champions League, and in a 2013 Last 16 clash with Juventus in Turin, he was given the specific job of man-marking footballing icon Andrea Pirlo.

Speaking in an interview to local media back home, Kayal explained the surprising tale behind choosing Pirlo as the name for his first child. He said via The Herald: “All week Neil Lennon, our manager, told me that Pirlo was a legend, but his legs had gone. My instructions were to stick with him at all time and to tackle him hard every time he touched the ball.

“But I couldn’t get near him. I came in from the left to tackle him, he turned to the right. The same when I went in at the other side. At half time, I got yelled at by Neil Lennon.”

Kayal added: “I ended up approaching Pirlo after about an hour and told him that my wife was pregnant and if it was a boy, I would name the baby after him.

“Thankfully, he was substituted soon afterwards, but he waited for me afterwards to swap shirts. The boy was born and we called him Pirlo as promised. A few years later, he sent me one of his shirts and signed it, ‘Best wishes from Pirlo to Pirlo.’

Lennon’s side exited their memorable 2012/13 Champions League campaign to Juve. A 5-0 aggregate defeat across two legs ended an excellent European run which included famously beating Barcelona along with Spartak Moscow home and away.

Conor Spence

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter

Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered the late David Potter’s last ever Celtic book, Celtic in the Eighties, which will be published on the fifth day of September by Celtic Star Books. The link to pre-order your copy is below…

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, out 5 September 2025. Available to pre-order now.