Eagles, Elephants and Other Animals
The 16 Competing Teams Of The 2008 African Cup of Nations in Nickname Form
1. The Black Antelopes (Angola)
2. The Squirrels (Benin)
3. The Indomitable Lions (Cameroon)
4. The Pharaohs (Egypt)
5. The Black Stars (Ghana)
6. Syli Nationale* (Guinea)
7. The Elephants (Ivory Coast)
8. The Eagles (Mali)
9. The Atlas Lions (Morocco)
10. The Brave Warriors (Namibia)
11. The Super Eagles (Nigeria)
12. The Lions of Teranga (Senegal)
13. Bafana Bafana** (South Africa)
14. The Desert Hawks (Sudan)
15. The Eagles of Carthage (Tunisia)
16. The Copper Bullets (Zambia)
* The Syli was once the main currency of Guinea and means 'elephant' in English.
** Translated into English: 'The Boys'
If Zambia were known as the Rubber Bullets they could play 10cc at there matches. That would be a 'fine' thing.
ReplyDeleteAfrica is home to some great team names, both on the national level and club level. The best team name ever is Eleven Men in Flight, which I believe is a Zimbabwean team.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Chris C. But which track would Mali play from the vast array available from their nick-name sakes?
ReplyDeleteThe Squirrels VS The Brave Warriors
ReplyDeleteNot a fair game if you look at the nicknames. "The Squirrels" must be the worst nickname I've ever heard. The Copper Bullets sounds strange too.
Funny to see there are so many animal nicknames in africa while in Europe we seem to have more "colour" nicknames. Oranje, azzurri, les bleus or tricolore, rode duivels (belgium).. am I forgetting some here??
Nice one, chris c paul!!!
ReplyDeleteQuite right, Adam - one of our early 'Friday Lists' featured exactly that name. A fine example... :)
Sven - good point about the colours. Yes, The Squirrels and the Copper Bullets were new to me. At least they didn't feature the word 'Eagles' anywhere, which must count for something!!