Sports Nicknames - D10S

To many people, Diego Maradona is the greatest footballer of all time. He would take games and win them all by himself with a stunning solo goal or defence splitting pass. He simply could not be stopped at times, deserving the two record breaking transfers to Barcelona and Napoli during his career. He was such a spectacular player that he picked up the nickname D10S (pronounced djos).



Why did he pick up this seemingly strange nickname? It comes from a combination of the Spanish language, religion, Maradona's shirt and his game-changing abilities. Dios in Spanish means 'God', while Maradona famously wore the number 10 shirt throughout his playing career. Some cheeky fans decided to replace the -io in the word dios for the Argentine's shirt numbers and retain the meaning of the word.

People saw him as a god of the pitch. He was a man who would lead lesser teams to absolute glory all on his own. He led Argentina to World Cup success over West Germany in 1986, having helped Argentina beat England in the famous 'Hand of God' semi-final. While he struggled with injuries and off-pitch incidents at Barcelona, Maradona's Napoli career was much different. He was greeted by 75,000 fans at his presentation, being seen as a saviour for the club. He led them to win two Scudetto titles, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup and the Italian Supercup during his time at the club.

Maradona was seen as more than a player. His nickname D10S reflects this view, showing his importance to the fans of football as a god amongst men.


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