9) Dani Alves (Brazil)
“Alves plays for Barcelona and Brazil, so he's experienced a lot of success, but because he's a man of few words, he lets the tattoos do the talking. His arms are adorned with Catholic images and dedications to his family, and the odd mess up: mainly his ink of his ex-wife Dina on his shoulder. They split in 2011. The real masterpiece, though, is his son's name emblazoned in giant script across his chest.”
The Brazilian has a picture of cartoon figures Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird inked near his right ankle, but not for comedic purposes. To him, the fact that Tweety always manages to outsmart the cat symbolises the upward challenges he has faced.
He said: “The little guys rule in football too. We are in an era where there are so many clever footballing ‘midgets' who are smarter than the average player and can do something different.
10) Neymar Jr. (Brazil)
The face of this summer's World Cup, Neymar has a growing collection of tattoos dedicated to his friends, family and profession. He has the names of his sister and son, Raffaella and Davi Lucca, tattooed on his arms, and that of his mother Nadine on his wrist. He also has a crown tattoo on his left ring finger, which is linked to the tattoo of his son's name, which also features a crown.
The Brazil star added the words ‘ousadia', meaning boldness and ‘alegria', meaning joy, above both his ankles. The two words sum up his playing style, which wows fans and infuriates opponents. At the top of his back he has a tattoo of the word ‘blessed'.
