Zlatan Ibrahimovic's birth certificate (Globo.com) More

Franz Beckenbauer is Zlatan Ibrahimovic's father.

The Franz Beckenbauer in question, however, is not the legendary German defender, but a fanatical fan of Brazilian Campeonato side Santa Cruz. Being arbitrarily named after a European footballer now runs in the family, as Beckenbauer named his newborn son Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Globo.com explains the puzzling situation:

The father, who is the namesake of Der Kaiser, baptized the child with the name of the AC Milan player. Zlatan Ibrahimovic Lima da Silva was born in Pernambuco three days before Santa Cruz won the Championship, further increasing the happiness of fanatical family.

It's unclear why Beckenbauer would choose the overrated Swede over any other top European — or Brazilian — player, but he wishes for his son to play for Santa Cruz when he grows up. In celebration of his favorite side's recent title win, Beckenbauer has also promised to bury little Zlatan's umbilical cord underneath its Arruda stadium.

Mr. Beckenbauer isn't the only Santa Cruz fan in the bizarre child-naming game: Globo also reported that a pair of Tricolor supporters named their child Dayvid Shevchenko Ximenes da Silva in honor of David Beckham and Andriy Shevchenko.