The young man who checked us in at the Hotel Epoka in Shkoder in northern Albania was very helpful. He carried our suitcases upstairs, recommended an excellent restaurant just up the street, and arranged for a minivan pickup to Komani Lake, where we enjoyed a four-hour cruise through spectacular mountain scenery. His English was excellent, and he was always smiling. I wanted to get to know him a little better.
“What’s your name?”
“Denilson.”
I paused. “That sounds like the name of a Brazilian footballer,” I said. Denilson just smiled.
I’ve watched enough Word Cups and followed the English Premier League long enough to know that many Brazilian stars with long Portuguese names prefer to go by a single name. Denilson rang a distant bell, but I wasn’t sure. That evening, I decided to check.
In his 17-year playing career, Denílson de Oliveira Araújo earned the moniker of the “sultan of stepovers” for his tricks, feints and dribbling skills. He played mostly as a left-winger or left-sided midfielder. In 1998, he broke the world-record transfer fee when São Paulo sold him to the Spanish club Real Betis for £21.5 million. He earned 61 caps for Brazil, making his full debut before his 20th birthday and representing the nation in six international tournaments, including the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
Back at the reception desk, I showed Denilson a picture of his namesake. “My father loved football,” he said. “After the end of the communist regime [in 1991] he was able to watch international matches on TV. Not surprising he named me after a player he loved to watch.”
“Do you play?” I asked.
“Yes, and I’m pretty good, but do you want to know the real joke? He named my brother Roberto.”
A contemporary of Denilson, José Roberto da Silva Júnior, known as Zé Roberto, played midfield for the Bundesliga clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich and for Brazilian clubs, and had a 10-year international career including two World Cups.
Denilson, Roberto and their father were glued to the TV from mid-June when the 2024 Euros began. Albania was a surprise qualifier, and definitely the underdog. They went out in the group stage, losing narrowly to Italy and Spain but tying their Balkan rivals Croatia 2-2.
