David Beckham and Ronaldo set to compete at Commonwealth Games

India's David Beckham Elkatohchoongo competes in the men's sprint quarterfinal race 1 of the cycling track event during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on September 28, 2023. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
No, not those ones (Image credit: Getty Images)

Ronaldo and David Beckham will be on the same team once again at the Commonwealth Games.

Glasgow is hosting the event, which began on Thursday and is set to run until next weekend.

And those who attend the track cycling event at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome may well have their ears pricked up by the mention of two footballing greats of the 1990s and 2000s.

Actually it's more Ronaldinho than Ronaldo

Ronaldo and David Beckham

The original Ronaldo and David Beckham were teammates at Real Madrid (Image credit: Getty Images)

Hoho, but of course, it's not actually going to be the footballers David Beckham and Ronaldo! That was just misleading!

In fact, it's two Indian cyclists who are both named after the famous footballing duo: David Beckham Elkatohchoongo and his teammate Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam.

Indian cyclist David Beckham Elkatohchoongo

David Beckham Elkatohchoongo has long been part of India's track cycling team (Image credit: Getty Images)

Amusingly, the latter is reportedly not even named after Ronaldo, but in fact Ronaldinho.

David Beckham Elkatohchoongo holds national records (including a sub-10 second Flying 200m), and made the quarterfinals at the Asian Games, and won gold at the Indian National Games.

Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam became the first Indian cyclist to win an individual silver medal at the Asian Track Cycling Championships and previously held the junior World No. 1 ranking across sprint disciplines.

While they are breaking national records and raising India's profile internationally, pushing onto the podium in Glasgow alongside Olympic-tier opposition at the Commonwealth Games would require an exceptional, career-defining performance from both.

Ronaldinho celebrates scoring against Argentina in the Confederations Cup final

Ronaldinho celebrates scoring against Argentina in the Confederations Cup final (Image credit: Getty Images)

The cycling duo are far from the only sportspeople with famous footballing namesakes.

Ronaldinho himself is so named because his first name is Ronaldo, but he came through when R9 was Brazil's megastar - hence the suffix '-inho', making him 'little Ronaldo'.

There's Kiwi cricketer Beckham Wheeler-Green, if we're staying purely in the lane of the former Manchester United midfielder: he was born in 2002, at the absolute peak of Beckham's popularity.

West Indies cricketer Romario Shepherd is of course named after the Brazilian forward Romario, who had been awarded the World Cup Golden Ball at the 1994 World Cup just a few months before the bowler was born.

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen at a memorial to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in 2014.

David Beckham Elkatohchoongo will be hoping to fire India to glory at the Commonwealth Games (Image credit: Getty Images)

Similarly, American boxer Diego Armando Magdaleno is, meanwhile, of course named after the much more famous Diego Armando – the late great Maradona, who had inspired Argentina to the World Cup trophy earlier in 1986.

Brazilian middle-distance runner Altobeli da Silva is meanwhile named after Italy's 1982 World Cup winner Alessandro Altobelli, despite having been born in 1990.

This writer meanwhile has the middle name Alan, after Liverpool's great centre-back, Alan Hansen. Fun fact to amaze your friends.

Steven Chicken

Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.

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