Osama Vinladen

Osama Vinladen Jiménez López (Spanish: [oˈsa.ma βinˈla.ðen xiˈmi.nes ˈlo.pes]) (born 7 October 2002) is a professional Peruvian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Unión Comercio in the Peruvian Primera División.

Club career
Vinladen made his professional debut for Unión Comercio on 30 May 2018 against Universidad San Martín when he entered the game as a substitute in the 87th minute. The match ended in a 0–0 draw.

International career
Vinladen was part of the Peru U-15 squad that participated in the 2017 South American U-15 Championship.

Personal life
The name Osama Vinladen is inspired by Islamic fundamentalist and founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden (the "v" is pronounced "b" in Spanish). His brother, Sadam Huseín, is named after dictator of Iraq Saddam Hussein. His father had considered naming his third son George Bush after U.S. president George W. Bush, but this child turned out to be a girl and the idea was dropped.

Vinladen told the Peruvian press: "My friends made fun of it, but I just accepted it. At first, it was uncomfortable for me, but you learn to live with it." He always wondered why his parents gave him such a controversial name but never received an explanation from them: "I asked my father for explanations, but he always avoided the subject." In a radio interview in 2020, he made the following connection: "When bin Laden destroyed the Twin Towers, his name was on the front pages of newspapers, and a year later, on 7 October 2002, I was born." He later added that his father liked the name. He also stated that he had often thought about changing his name but had not done so because he had come to accept it. To avoid criticism, only his first name "Osama" appears on his jersey.

During another interview, a journalist asked him if it was dishonourable to bear the name of someone as bad as bin Laden or not, to which he responded: I do not believe my name to be problematic, citing Peruvian politician Hitler Guesclin Alba Sánchez, who won a mayoral election over the ironically-named Vladimir Lenin Rodríguez Valverde in 2018 and made headlines in the process, as well as Brazilian footballer Marx Lenin as other figures with similarly controversial names.