HERO
some brothers have failed to keep up with their family members who’ve gone off to win silverware all over the planet, whilst they’re left duking it out in the lower leagues on a wet weekday evening.
Hear are 14 sets of brothers whose talents are miles, no, light years apart.
Thorgan Hazard
Brother: Eden Hazard
Age: 22
Current team: Borussia Monchengladbach
Thorgan Hazard isn’t actually that bad of a player at all, as he’s still a regular in Borussia Monchengladbach’s team, yet he’s still got a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as his bro, Eden.
Both men play in a similar position, but the Chelsea player has enjoyed a far more fruitful time of things. However, given his current decline, Thorgan could easily step up to the plate. That’s a big if mind you…
Sergio Zanetti
Brother: Javier Zanetti
Age: 48
Current team: Retired
Trying to emulate Javier Zanetti’s talents is hard enough for any player, let alone his brother, so spare a thought for Sergio Zanetti, who’s actually the older sibling of the Inter Milan legend.
The older Zanetti was also a defender, spending his playing days in Argentina, Italy and Switzerland, playing well over 500 games in his career. Since retirement he’s gone into management, so maybe that’s one area where he could surpass his brother.
Jonathan Benteke
Brother: Christian Benteke
Age: 20
Current team: Zulte Waregem
Once upon a time, Christian Benteke was a young striker in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League who went on to make it in the Premier League with Aston Villa and now Liverpool.
His younger brother Jonathan is now looking to follow in his footsteps, but it looks like it might take him a bit longer than his big bro, as he’s struggling to earn a place in the Zulte Waregem first-team right now.
Stephen Jagielka
Brother: Phil Jagielka
Age: 37
Current team: Ellesmere Rangers
We can’t imagine that there are many connections between the Premier League and the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division, but the Jagielka family are keeping that dream alive.
With younger brother Phil currently captaining Everton in the top flight, older brother Stephen is now at Ellesmere Rangers in Shropshire. The two were both at Sheffield Untied at the same time, but despite the family ties, manager Neil Warnock never played poor Stephen.
Taulant Xhaka
Brother: Granit Xhaka
Age: 23
Current team: FC Basel
Much like Thorgan Hazard, Taulant Xhaka is being forced to look on whilst his elsewhere brother succeeds at a much bigger European club.
However, it’s perfectly debatable that Basel are a bigger team than Gladbach, but there’s nowhere near the same amount of hype surrounding Taulant as there is Granit, who looks destined to secure a major move to a big European club in the future.
Jordan Lukaku
Brother: Romelu Lukaku
Age: 21
Current team: Oostende
The name Lukaku is generally associated with one of the hottest young strikers in the Premier League who’s been scoring goals for fun this season and looks set for super-stardom, but just like Yoda said: “There is another.”
Romelu’s younger brother Jordan is a left-back who’s still plying his trade in Belgium, signing for Oostende in 2014. Incidentally, the Lukaku’s father, Roger, was also a footballer who played at international level for Zaire.
Mathias Pogba
Brother: Paul Pogba
Age: 25
Current team: Partick Thistle
The future of Paul Pogba continues to be shrouded in mystery. Will he move to Real Madrid? Barcelona? Manchester United? Or will he simply remain at Juventus where he’s clearly their best player. Perhaps if his brother Mathias had a word in his ear, he could end up at Patrick Thistle where his older brother currently resides.
We can’t imagine that Scotland has the same to offer Pogba as Turin, but you you never know. Whilst he’s there, Mathias could probably tell Paul about his various adventures at Wrexham, Crewe and Crawley.
Chedric Seedorf
Brother: Clarence Seedorf
Age: 32
Current team: Unattached
Imagine having Clarence Seedorf as a brother. That would be great right? He would be able to tell you all of his stories from his time at Real Madrid, Milan and Inter, where he won La Liga, Serie A and the Champions League, and probably give you a few tips here and there.
That quite clearly hasn’t paid off for his younger brother Chedric, who was a youth product at Madrid and Inter whilst his brother was at those respective clubs, but it didn’t work out in the same manner. He’s now a free agent having been released by Monza in 2011.
John Rooney
Brother: Wayne Rooney
Age: 25
Current team: Chester
The career paths of the two Rooney brothers couldn’t be more different. Whilst the older sibling has become England’s all-time international goalscorer and the second highest scorer in Premier League history, the younger of the two has been playing in America and the English lower leagues for most of his career, and is currently at Chester.
He’s still only 25, so there’s a chance that John could still make it to the big time, where he’s certain to be slightly more popular than Wayne.
Evans Kondogbia
Brother: Geoffrey Kodogbia
Age: 26
Current team: Renate
Kondogbia’s dramatic rise to the top took everyone by surprise last season, but the Frenchman definitely earned his move to Inter Milan thanks to his exploits at Monaco.
We should spare a thought for his older brother Evans, who’s been hanging around the French lower divisions since 2007 and recently joined Italian third division team Renate. Who knows, one day they might actually get to play against each other, should Renate charge up the divisions.
Digao
Brother: Kaka
Age: 30
Current team: Retired
Above appears to be the archetypal family photo, as a scruffy younger brother valiantly tries to look better than his far more successful sibling who’s just been given the biggest award of his life.
Digao could never match the expectations that Kaka had placed on his family name, and after a couple of years endeavouring as a centre-back retired in 2013, whilst Kaka plays on for Orlando City in the MLS.
Tobias Schweinsteiger
Brother: Bastian Schweinsteiger
Age: 33
Current team: Retired
Unlike his brother, Tobias Schweinsteiger didn’t spend most of his playing days at Bayern Munich before moving to United. No. Instead, he darted around minnows in the German lower leagues before arriving at the Bavarian’s B-Team in 2012.
Despite doing a decent job for them, Bayern opted not to extend his contract and he decided to hang up his boots as a consequence. It didn’t turn out too bad for Tobias though, as he was offered a role as assistant coach to their Under-17 side. See, there’s a silver lining to every story.
Catilina and Willy Aubameyang
Brother: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Age: 32 (Catilina), 28 (Willy)
Current teams: Sapins (Catilina), Kray (Willy)
Having one brother that’s nowhere near as good as you is bad enough, but imagine if there were two. That’s the truth that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has to deal with on a daily basis, as he’s eclipsed both of his siblings thanks to being rather good at football and scoring loads of goals for Borussia Dortmund.
His two brothers in comparison currently play in the German amateur leagues and the Gabonese top flight respectively.
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