In this week's edition of Story Behind The Nickname, KickOff speaks to Sekhukhune United midfielder Thabang Monare about his nickname 'Desh Minhon'.
Having been born and raised in Embalenhle, Secunda, in Mpumalanga province, Monare says he has owned the nickname since his days at former club Remember FC, which was known for producing top players.
The 34-year-old has so far in his football career won two MTN8 Cup trophies, one Telkom Knockout, and a league title.
Who and where did you play?
"Monare made his professional debut with University of Pretoria FC in 2009, then moved to FC Aziz Kara, Jomo Cosmos, Bidvest Wits, Orlando Pirates and is now with Sekhukhune United."
What's your nickname?
"The name is a Desh with an E. So the full name is Desh Minhon [pronounced 'mino']."
Who gave it to you and why?
"So I was playing for Remember FC in Secunda, I was still very young at the time. So my teammates went to play the Nike Cup in France, in fact they won it twice because they also went to Spain to represent South Africa.
"I don't remember very well, but I think the age group was Under-14 or Under-15. As I mentioned, I was still too young at the time hence I was left behind.
"So when they came back from overseas my teammates, they told me that the team that was representing Brazil in the Nike Cup had a player that looked exactly like me, and his name was Desh Minhon. So from there everybody was calling me Desh Minhon.
"Up until today I have never seen that guy Desh Minhon, I don't know him, because remember those days the social media was not big as it is now. So I couldn't Google search for photos.
"Knowing people from ekasi they just shortened it to Desh [laughs]. So thats where my nickname come from. And I always find myself trying to explain it because people assume I'm 'Dash'.
"So they always ask me, why are they calling you 'Dash'? Are you drinking alcohol or what?
"But I do explain to them that actually the full name is Desh Minhon."
Did you like it?
"Yes I did like it because they spoke highly of him Desh Minhon. They say he was so good he was even wearing jersey number 10. So I thought, if he is so good why I can't be him?"
Anyone that didn't use it?
"My kasi nickname is Bakho, I got that one from my mother, but even today she refuses to tell me her reasons, she just laughs at me."
If you could relive it, what would you want your nickname to be?
"To be honest, the reason it's called a nickname it's because it should come from the people. It carries more weight if you are given it.
"I will take any name that was given to me by people rather than giving myself a nickname. So I'm really happy with Bakho and Desh. There has to be a story behind a nickname."