5 pairs of brothers who played together for the same club
Football at its grassroots is a game for family, with fathers, brothers and cousins all joining in to enjoy the game. It might well be a global sport, but everyone starts playing the game at home before moving on to bigger things. Let's look at a few such cases where members from the same family became well-known footballers.
Bolton Wanderers legend Jaj-Jay Okocha has a nephew currently playing with Everton: Alex Iwobi. The Hazard family is synonymous with football: Eden Hazard plies his trade with Real Madrid, Thorgan Hazard is an attacker for Borussia Dortmund, Kylian Hazard plays for Cercle Brugge, and 17-year-old Ethan Hazard is currently the subject of transfer rumors.
Family goals.
Pretty unique. Three brothers involved in a goal in the same weekend in a top 10 league:
🇧🇪 Kylian Hazard (Cercle Brugge)⚽️
🇩🇪 Thorgan Hazard (BMG)⚽️⚽️
🏴 Eden Hazard (Chelsea) 🅰️
Eden and Thorgan are both joint top scorer in their league.
#cfc @hlnsport https://t.co/g5JIzZaFIf
Sergio Aguero has two brothers playing professionally in Argentina: Gaston del Castillo and Mauricio del Castillo. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his father Hamlet have both been capped for the Armenian national team.
Clearly, football has its fair share of familial connections across the globe. While there are many such connections to explore, let's take a look at a very specific and interesting group: Brothers who have played for the same team.
Over the years, quite a few brotherly pairs have found themselves employed by the same club. Quite notably, three out of four Hazard boys have been at Stamford Bridge at some point in their playing career.
It wasn't too surprising when rumor mills carried the news that Chelsea were looking to bring in Ethan Hazard. Having brothers at the same club clearly does much to improve locker room dynamics.
So, without further ado, here are five pairs of brothers who have played together for the same club:
5. Taulant Xhaka and Granit Xhaka
Before he moved to Borussia Monchengladbach almost a decade ago, Granit Xhaka played alongside his brother Taulant at FC Basel. They both made a total of 51 league appearances in the two years they spent at Basel, with Granit making the majority of those appearances.
After Granit left for Monchengladbach, his elder Taulant found a stronger footing in Basel, making 179 league appearances since then.
👬 Granit Xhaka and Taulant Xhaka become the first siblings to face each other on opposing sides at the Euros... https://t.co/V8LdH3KmKK
Notably, the Xhaka brothers represent different nations internationally. Granit Xhaka plays for Switzerland - where they were both born - while Taulant plays for Albania - their home country. On occasion, they have played against each other, most recently with Arsenal facing Basel in the Champions League 2016-17 season.
4. Andre and Jordan Ayew
The Ayew siblings are sons of former Ghana international Abedi Pele. Following in their father's footsteps, Jordan and Andre Ayew have both played professional football. They played together at Marseille, making nearly 300 Ligue 1 appearances combined.
More recently, the Ayew brothers played together at Swansea, making a combined 149 Premier League appearances.
They have currently parted ways, with Jordan plying his trade at Crystal Palace. Andre just joined Al Sadd last month, 39 years after his father played in Qatar. Their brother, Ibrahim Ayew, currently plays as a midfielder in Gibraltar.