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There are so many footballers out there in the present world, playing professional football at the highest level in so many countries, that it is almost possible to come across players who share the same names. And, we are not even talking about players with nicknames such as Ronaldo, Kaka or Pele. While compiling the list, we have also made sure that we skip out fathers and sons who share the same name, for someone like Frank Lampard. In this slideshow, we talk about 9 such players and their namesakes:
#1 David Silva
Manchester City’s David Silva shares his name with three other professional footballers:
• A right midfielder from Colombian club Deportes Tolima whose full name is David Macalister Silva Mosquera
• Cape Verde’s left midfielder David Mendes da Silva
• Grêmio Catanduvense striker David Macalister Silva Mosquera.
Surprisingly, all the three players are players with attacking traits similar to David Silva himself who is often regarded as one of Premier League’s midfielders.
#2 James McCarthy
Everton’s 23-year-old starlet James McCarthy has been making names for himself in the Premier League, forming a commendable partnership with Gareth Barry last season. The Irish midfielder shares his name with two other professional footballers:
• 23-year-old James McCarthy who is a striker from the United States
• Former Cork City FC goalkeeper James McCarthy who shares the same nationality as the Everton midfielder
Unlike Everton’s McCarthy, both of his namesakes have been free agents for more than two years.
#3 Nemanja Vidic
Former Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic is still held in a very high position among fans despite joining Inter Milan this season. And, even though finding a picture perfect replacement for the Serbian would be a difficult task for United manager Louis van Gaal, his namesake is perhaps the closest option in hand. Well, at least his name is.
Vidic’s namesake is a 25-year-old midfielder who is currently playing for Serbian SuperLiga outfit FK Radniki 1923.
#4 Lars Bender
The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder shares his name with SC Fortuna Köln’s Lars Bender who plays as a right midfielder. The former is a well-known name throughout Europe, and has represented Germany 17 times. Unlike his namesake, Köln’s Bender, who made his debut on the professional league level in the 2. Bundesliga for TuS Koblenz, has failed to make it to the big picture.
#5 Lisandro Lopez
Lisandro Lopez is a name shared by two Argentine players.
• 31-year-old striker who currently plays for Al-Gharafa Sports Club having previously made a name for himself with Porto and Lyon.
• Benfica’s 24-year-old defender Lisandro Ezequiel López.
#6 Fernando Llorente
29-year-old Fernando Llorente shares his name with a 23-year old Spanish central midfielder who is currently a free agent. Both of the two players share the same surname, however, the former takes Torres as his maiden name, while the latter goes by Fernando Llorente Mañas.
#7 Luis Garca
Unlike most of the names in this list, all of the three players have represented their national teams at the highest level, and have won quite a few number of individual accolades themselves.
The most famous of the lot being Luis Javier García Sanz who had recently signed for Indian Super League club Atletico de Kolkata as their marquee player. A former Champions League winner, Garcia shares his name with:
• Retired Luis García Postigo who has made a total of 79 appearances for Mexico.
• 33-year-old striker Luis García Fernández who plays for Real Zaragoza.
#8 Diego Costa
Even though Diego is somewhat of a household name in Brazil and other Portuguese speaking countries, it is not the same case when we are talking about the first and last name altogether. Chelsea striker Diego Costa shares his name with two other players, who were not as famous as their namesake.
• 34-year-old Brazillian midfielder Diego Costa Bastos Walsh who is currently a free agent.
• Brazillian goalkeeper Diego Costa Silva who is most recently known to have played for Gabala FC in Azerbaijan.
#9 Nikola Maksimovic
Torino’s Serbian defender Nikola Maksimovic shares his name with three other active players.
• 26-year-old defensive midfielder Nikola Maksimovic who plays for German club SV Halstenbek-Rellingen.
• 22-year-old Nikola Maksimovic from Serbia who is currently playing for Serbian side FK Inija.
• Slovenian club NK Krka Novo Mesto’s 19-year-old defensive midfielder Nikola Maksimovic
