Huddersfield Town defender Mathias Jorgensen has revealed the story behind the nickname 'Zanka' which appears on the back of his shirt.
The 27-year-old initially confused fans and commentators alike on joining the Terriers in the summer and being known for his moniker as opposed to his birthname.
However, the player told West Yorkshire Sport on BBC Radio Leeds it was something that dates back to his days back at Copenhagen youth club B.93 in 2000.
“My former youth coach (Johan Lange) had seen the movie 'Cool Runnings' and we were coming back from training about 20 minutes from where I was living in Copenhagen and we had to cram a lot of people in the car,” explained Mathias 'Zanka' Jorgensen.
“I was sat in front of the passenger seat in what seemed like a bobsleigh and he looked down and said 'Sanka' (one of the films characters) and it just caught on.
“By the end of high school everyone was calling me 'Zanka' and when I signed my first contract at Copenhagen they asked me what I wanted on my shirt.
“My Mum was saying I could take my dad's name 'Jattah-Njie' or her name Jorgensen and then the Sports director said how about Zanka?
“It's more recognisable than Jorgensen as a lot of people are named Jorgensen in Scandinevia.”
Zanka went on to speak about working under David Wagner and admitted there were no surprises with the boss when he first joined the club.
On the head coach, Zanka said: “He's a very honest person and manager who says what he wants and if you live up to that then there are no problems.
“But there is also a different side to him on the training ground and he can switch successfully between joking and being full-on.
“It was exactly what I expected when I joined - he is calm and looks at football in a very modern way and that is only good for the group of players we have.
“His favourite phase is probably 'It makes no sense' and there's a lot in football that doesn't make sense and we have to exclude and just focus on ourselves.”
It's a footballing philosophy which has stood Town well over the course of the German's reign at the club and one which helped the side snap a winless run of five defeats in a row against the AFC Bournemouth last weekend.
“It's been coming and we always knew there would be tough periods, especially for a promoted side,” admitted Zanka.
“Five defeats in a row is tough but when I signed here in the summer I knew there would probably be two runs of losing games and you just have to accept that fate.
“As long as we don't lose hope because things are going against us for a short-period of time.”
