Some players share the same names as their countries.
One common example is Irish professional footballer who plays for Premier League side Stoke City, Stephen Ireland. The player’s surname is the same as his nationality. Another is ex-Hellas Verona midfielder, Vincenzo Italiano whose surname is his nationality in his native language.
Close examples are Arsenal shot stopper Petr Cech whose surname is almost the same as his country – Czech and Sligo Rovers goalkeeper, Michéal Schlingermann from County Mayo but with a German dad. At least Schlingermann has ‘german’ as part of his surname.
There many other examples in world football. For Turkish players, numerous surnames contain the word: ‘Türk.’ ‘Öztürk’ is one of the most popular surnames in the country, and there are several football players of Turkish origin with that name. The Guardian compiled a list of Turkish players that can form a squad but have ‘Türk’ in their surname.
There’s Fatih Öztürk who would be the shot stopper. Left back and right back would be Mehmet Türkmehmet and Alpaslan Öztürk. Central defenders are Engin Aktürk and İbrahim Öztürk. For the player above the defenders, there is the option of Kemalettin Şentürk, while Yıldıray Baştürk and Sezer Öztürk could be the central midfielder dictating the pace of the game. At the wings, Kubilay Türkyılmaz could play the left wing and Göksu Türkdoğan would terrorize defenses from the right wing. Semih Şentürk would striker and the manager would be none other than Yılmaz Yücetürk.
There are several players that fit into the squad, and it can be expanded further to form a full team with regulars and reserves.
There are other players’ names that share the same nationalities as their countries. Some countries would definitely have more players with the same names as their nationalities. Imagine how many are in North America or the United Kingdom.