Liverpool Player Facts: 1 Unknown Fact for Each Player

Liverpool supporters are renowned for their in-depth knowledge of their team, but here are some interesting facts you might not have known about each player. Roberto Firmino may seem self-assured now but he wasn’t always as outgoing; when he joined Figueirense as a youngster, Firmino was so shy that he didn’t correct his coach for a full two weeks when he was mistakenly called Alberto. James Milner has crossed paths with countless players and officials in his long playing career; one referee to officiate the Englishman is Jon Moss, who sent the Liverpool man off against Crystal Palace in 2019, but it wasn’t the pair’s first encounter. Moss was previously Milner’s PE teacher back at Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth, Leeds. Nat Phillips has a girlfriend with a famous father; the defender’s partner is Molly Moorish, daughter of Oasis frontman and big Man City fan, Liam Gallagher, therefore making Noel Gallagher her uncle. As Cityzens, we can’t imagine they’re too happy with Phillips playing for Liverpool! This fact will make Milner feel old; his teammate, Harvey Elliott, became the first footballer born after Milner made his Premier League debut (2002) to score a topflight goal for Liverpool, when he netted in the Reds’ 9-0 mauling of Bournemouth. The Spaniard Thiago comes from a footballing family; his father is Mazinho who played 35 times for Brazil and his brother is Rafinha, formerly of Barcelona, Internazionale and Paris Saint-German. In fact, the siblings played against each other when Thiago‘s Barcelona came up against Bayern in 2015 during the Champions League semi-final stage. The Liverpool man came out on top. Stefan Bajcetic is another player with a famous father; his dad, Srdan, played together with Thiago‘s father, Mazinho, at Celta Vigo in 1996. While playing for Willem II in Holland, left-back Kostas Tsimikas scored an incredible bicycle kick out of the blue against FC Utrecht to stun and excite the home crowd in equal measure. Did you know Alisson was nicknamed ‘the German’ at AS Roma despite not speaking any of the language? While playing in Italy, Alisson was given the title because he comes from the municipality of Novo Hamburgo (New Hamburg) in Brazil, which was founded by German immigrants. Ibrahima Konate has a slightly unusual taste in entertainment, unless you’re from Japan; the defender is really into Japanese anime and his favourite is the manga series, Attack of the Titans. The Guinean Naby Keita‘s full name is Naby Laye Keita, however, that’s not how he was registered at RB Leipzig; when signing for the Bundesliga club, Keita was registered as Naby Deco Keita, referencing the former Barcelona midfielder in his new middle name which was given to him by his father, Sekou. With a footballing father and pop star partner, there were a few facts about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain we could have gone for but we’ve decided to highlight his sporting prowess; did you know that the Englishman once had trials for the Rugby Union club London Irish, before becoming a footballer? Such is Mo Salah‘s popularity in Egypt, a large number of ballot papers were spoiled in the country’s 2018 presidential election as voters crossed out the candidates’ names and wrote Salah’s instead. Darwin Nunez comes from a poor background and emphasises that a sacrifice made by his brother, Junior, is why he made it as a footballer; after injuring his cruciate ligament when he was younger, Darwin’s older brother had to stop playing for Club Atlético Peñarol in order to provide for the family and allow him to recover properly. Liverpool’s Irish goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher comes from a family of successful sports stars; he has three brothers who play hurling in Ireland and another, Fiacre, who plays football for Colchester United. Many of Liverpool’s players will have been ahead of their age growing up but Joe Gomez was an exceptional case; the centre-back was playing for Charlton Athletic’s under-18s when he was just 13 years old! From Maryhill in Glasgow, Andy Robertson was a boyhood Celtic fan; his dad was even a childhood friend of Arsenal and Celtic legend Charlie Nicholas, aswell as Jim Duffy who had a long career playing and managing in Scotland. Andy Robertson is Scotland’s captain but further down the ranks plays Ben Doak; the winger became Scotland under-21s youngest ever scorer