You might or might not be aware that Liverpool’s third-choice center goes by the pseudonym Fabinho rather than his genuine name.
When referring to their Brazilian midfielder, Fabinho, Liverpool fans have only ever known him by that name, but it wasn’t always like that.
The 29-year-old, who was given the name Fabio Henrique Tavares when he was born in Campinas, Brazil, would subsequently use the nickname, but it was not his idea at first.
He began his career with Fluminense, where ‘Fabinho’ was created in their youth ranks as a result of a player with the same first name and a coach who wanted to simplify things.
I have Fluminense to thank for my name,” Fabinho wrote for The Players’ Tribune. “In the Under 20s there were two Fabios. Me and Fabio Braga.
So one day our coach, Marcelo Veiga, says, ‘Every time I call Fabio, you both look round, so from now on you are Fabinho!’
And that was it. From that moment on, I became Fabinho!
“When I saw that first shirt with my name and number printed on it, I was like – woah, this is crazy.”
Despite making the move to Europe in 2012 as an 18-year-old, joining Rio Ave and later Real Madrid, Monaco and Liverpool, the name Fabinho has adorned every shirt.
Fabinho has carved out quite the career with the name on his back, as for what came of Fabio Braga, he went on to play the majority of his football in Brazil before starting a management company.
The No. 3 is not the only Red with an interesting back story regarding the name on the back of his shirt, Diogo Jota has one while Alexis Mac Allister‘s origins have been explained too
It was perhaps helpful when coming across another Fabio at Anfield following the signing of Fabio Carvalho last summer!
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