Nicknames answers

• the Desert Foxes are Algeria
• the Eagles of Carthage are Tunisia
• the Lions of Teranga are Senegal
• the Falcons of Jediane are Sudan
• the Elephants are Ivory Coast
• the Lions of Chinguetti are Mauritania
• the Scorpions are Gambia
• the Blue Sharks are Cape Verde

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Nicknames and a Quiz

I've written before about the esoteric names of football clubs - the Go Ahead Eagles and the Stuttgarter Kickers. But today is about nicknames. I don't know how or by whom these names came into being but Arsenal (originally Woolwich Arsenal) are the Gunners, Wycombe (home of the Windsor chair) Wanderers are the Chair Boys, Ipswich (home of Ransomes) Town the Tractor Boys.

I'm not sure whether their womens' teams are the Chair Girls and the Tractor Girls [Ed: actually the latter: Yes]; sounds like a good name for a movie. According to CNN, a 20-year-old woman nicknamed "Chair Girl" was filmed hurling a chair onto a freeway from the balcony of a high-rise building in downtown Toronto. Someone called Patrick Walsh has an album called Tractor Girls. In the interests of rigour, I got my researcher to listen to track 2 Girls With Tractors; he said it sounds like every other country and western song that's ever been written.

Moving on, my interest in nicknames has been re-stimulated by watching the (mens) African Cup of Nations. Today was Nigeria (the Super Eagles) vs Egypt (the Pharaohs). Yesterday I watched Morocco (the Lions de l'Atlas - Atlas Lions) vs Ghana (the Black Stars).

By and large the names of animals predominate. I challenge my readers to guess which countries are represented by (NO CHEATING):

• the Desert Foxes
• the Eagles of Carthage
• the Lions of Teranga
• the Falcons of Jediane
• the Elephants
• the Lions of Chinguetti
• the Scorpions
• the Blue Sharks

That morphed into a Geography quiz I think. Answers in two days' time. I'm expecting a plethora of 100% correct answers from my erudite audience.

I'm looking forward to the commentators' attempts when Comoros (wherever that is) play: they are The Coelacanths.

Frankly these are all deeply unoriginal, if authentic. Much better, the Ethiopian team is known as the Walias, which are "on the sweeter side of Ethiopian beers with tones of fruits and honey. It’s very light and golden in colour and retains its head much better than some of its competitors" according to youngpioneertours.com I'll have one of those please!

I know, it's a brand name. But so are Red Bull Salzburg and Bayer Leverkusen.