This year's World Cup is set to be the most heavily inked of all time, but
which footballers boast the best tattoos? Christian Stadil, owner of Danish
sportswear brand Hummel and tattoo aficionado, rounds up the 10 best.
1 Daniel Agger
“Obviously I have to go with the hometown hero here. He is Danish, one
of the top defenders in the world, and is covered in ink. Besides
several emblematic Viking tattoos and Danish scriptures, he has a Latin
scripture reading ‘Death is certain, its hour is not’ on his neck, and
his most recent addition of YNWA (You’ll never walk alone – a Liverpool
motto) on his knuckles shows his loyalty to the Liverpool fans. He’s my
partner on
tattoodo.com – we’re striving to create the world’s biggest site for tattoo design.”
2 David Beckham
“Football’s pretty boy! His tattoos celebrate his professional and
personal achievements – championships, finding love, having children,
all depicted in ink.”
3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
“He’s Swedish but we have to give him a shout-out. He has it all going
on – a red dragon on his back, a Japanese Koi fish (chosen because it
swims against the grain, like Zlatan), a Native American feather on his
back, ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ on his rib cage, an ace of hearts playing
card on his belly…Apparently he’s addicted to tattoos. I get it. We all
are.”
4 Neymar
“He’s a young
gun and rising star but his collection of tattoos is impressive. A crown
for his son, his sister’s name, and several Portuguese sayings to
symbolise his youthful joy. Maybe he’ll add a World Champion tattoo this
summer with his pal Dani Alves.
5 Daniel Alves
“Alves
plays for Barcelona and Brazil, so he’s experienced a lot of success,
but because he’s a man of few words, he lets the tattoos do the talking.
His arms are adorned with Catholic images and dedications to his
family, and the odd mess up: mainly his ink of his ex-wife Dina on his
shoulder. They split in 2011. The real masterpiece, though, is his son’s
name emblazoned in giant script across his chest.”
6 Sergio Ramos
“The
midfielder’s set of tattoos compose a more humble image than the
relentless wins with Spain and Real Madrid might suggest. Dedications to
his parents and siblings are alongside an eagle, Japanese characters,
the World Cup 2010 and a ghoul holding a football. But most
significantly, he dedicated each of his biceps to those killed in the
terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001 and in Spain on 11
March 2004.”
7 Ezequiel Lavezzi
“Lavezzi takes his work and his tattoos seriously, sporting a collection
of portraits of Catholic symbols, including the Virgin Mary on his
forearm and Jesus on his chest. The most prominent is a dedicated on his
ribs to his fellow Argentinean and football idol, Diego Maradona,
heading a ball, but a colourful ink of an evil clown on his shoulder is
difficult to overlook. Then there’s the hand-cuffed pocket-watch he had
inked on his back in December…”
8 Kevin-Prince Boateng
“I love it when footballers get tattoos in honour of their team! Prince
has an AC Milan tattoo on one arm and a map of Africa with Ghana
inscribed inside on the other. He also has an unusual tribute to his
recurring knee injuries, a spider’s web inked on his left knee. He told a
German newspaper it had a certain symbolism, because a spider web
always comes back – and so it is with the knee.”
9 Aleksandar Kolarov
“Have to respect the observance of the traditional Japanese style on
this man’s sleeve. The Koi fish tattoo is a symbol of luck and fortune –
certainly he had some of that, with Manchester City winning the Premier
League twice in the last three years.”
10 Nigel de Jong
“An
underrated player who sports a serious set of tribal tattoos. These are
amazingly intricate patterns – it’s great to see commitment to the
traditional.”
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