PLAYER OF THE MONTH(S)
Whenever Atletico Nacional Under-18 coach Hernan Dario Herrera summons one of his players, he doesn’t call out the name, he picks a random month of the year instead.
And that’s because the Colombian club’s highly-rated teenage star is Efmamjjasond Gonzalez. Nope, he’s not named after an Icelandic volcano. It’s actually because his first name features the opening letter of each month of the year in Spanish. We all know how it goes, right? Enero, Febrero, Marzo, Abril, Mayo, Junio, Julio, Agosto, Septiembre, Octubure, Noviembre, Diciembre.
“Dad wanted to call me ‘Efmamjjasond Jhonathan’, but my mum said I wouldn’t ever be able to write such a long name, so they just left it at Efmamjjasond,” says Jason, as he’s known to his friends – although he has also been dubbed ‘Calendario’. “When the coach wants to substitute me, he’ll just shout out March, April or any month that comes into his head on the bench. I’m already pretty used to it by now!”