How to pronounce the UEFA Nations League players' names correctly

Are you one of those fans who has heard several pronunciations of a player's name and wondered what the correct one is? Hopefully, UEFA.com can come to your rescue.

Our team of local experts have helped to compile this guide to getting the names absolutely spot on. So clear your throat, get those lips moving, and check out our list below!

CROATIA

A note on accents: in general terms, a Croatian 'š' is an English 'sh', a 'ć' and 'č' resemble an English 'ch', and a 'j' is similar to an English 'y'.

Marcelo Brozović – Brozzo-vitch
Luka Ivanušec – Eeva-noo-shets
Mateo Kovačić – Ko-va-chitch
Andrej Kramarić – And-ray Kram-ar-itch
Lovro Majer – My-er
Domagoj Vida – Do-ma-goy

ITALY

The commonly made mistake is to pronounce a 'ch' like an English 'ch' – it is more like a 'k'. For 'gn' the 'g' is silent and the 'n' is hard but when 'g' appears before 'a', 'o' or 'u', it has a hard sound.

Francesco Acerbi – Fran-chess-ko A-chair-bee
Federico Chiesa – Kee-ay-sah
Wilfried Gnonto – Vil-freed Knee-on-toe
Mateo Retegui – Re-te-gee
Rafael Tolói – Toll-oy
Guglielmo Vicario – Goo-liel-mo

Mat-ice Der-lickedGetty Images

NETHERLANDS

The English pronunciation of 'ij' should be 'eye' while the commonly-used 'de' in Dutch names is a short sound, similar to the English word 'the'.

Nathan Aké – Nat-an A-kay
Steven Bergwijn – Stay-ven Berg-vine
Justin Bijlow – Buy-low
Matthijs de Ligt – Mat-ice Der-licked
Marten de Roon – Der-own
Lutsharel Geertruida – Gair-tr-ow-der

SPAIN

Calling the 'y' correctly is tough as, like in English, the sound can vary between 'ee' and 'yer' depending whether it's pronounced like a vowel or consonant . A 'j' is similar to an English 'h'.

Dani Carvajal – Car-va-hal
Fabián Ruiz – Roo-eeth
Joselu – Hor-say-loo
Aymeric Laporte – Eye-may-rick
David Raya – Rye-ah
Martín Zubimendi – Mar-teen Thoo-bee-mend-ee