African Nations Cup: Home Of The World's Best Nicknames

Filed in archive Africa on January 26, 2006

source: bbc.co.uk

Is it just me, or do African teams have the best nicknames?
Cameroon are "The Indominatable Lions", Ghana are "The Black Stars" while South Africa (pictured) have the magnificent moniker "Bafana Bafana." And it's not just the men's teams...

The Cameroon ladies team are "The Indominatable Lionesses" (see what they've done there?), while the Under 21 side are "The Hopeful Lions".

Far and away the best team name goes to Lethogo's ladies. The men's side are "The Crocodiles" which is pretty average, but the women go by "The Beautiful Flowers" which I think is fantastic. It's a brave poke in the eye to all the testosterone heavy names out there, the antithesis of all those teams named after terrifying carnivorous beasts. Plus it makes me want to see them play live.

There's an interesting discussion happening here as to why the USA, for all its patriotic fervour, doesn't have a decent nickname for its men's team. My guess is that the team would have to win the World Cup, beating Brazil 10-0 in the final for the majority of US sports writers to look up from their baseball/basketball/football heavy diet long enough to think up a nickname. Till then they'll have to settle for beng known as the "men's national team".