Fight tiger brothers, fight father and son soldiers!
There are many scenes of father and son brothers playing together in the World Cup.
There are also several pairs of brothers playing in this World Cup. Surprisingly, they are not all fighting side by side. Among them, the brothers Ignaki Williams and Nico Williams represent the Ghana team and the Spain team respectively. Each is its master and becomes a unique landscape.
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Huang Qiyuan
Take over my brother's dream
In the history of the World Cup, it is not uncommon for brothers to go out together, but it is rare for a compatriot of one mother to compete for the same position in the national team, and the younger brother replaces the older brother on the field.
The "same frame picture" left by the Hernandez brothers in the World Cup in Qatar is a bit tragic: the group match against Australia, the game opened only 9 minutes, brother Lucas was injured while defending Lekki, and was shot 4 minutes later. Brother Teo replaced.
After the game, the French team officially announced that Lucas had been diagnosed with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and had to bid farewell to the World Cup ahead of schedule, becoming the seventh French international to bid farewell to the World Cup due to injury. .
Today, Theo Hernandez, who was entrusted with important tasks by coach Didier Deschamps, has gradually secured his position as the main left gate with his outstanding performance.
So far, he has scored one goal and two assists in this World Cup.
In the semi-final against Morocco, Teo volleyed and scored a lightning goal. He also became the third defender in the history of the French team to have assists and goals in a single World Cup. The first two to achieve this achievement were 1982. Tresor and Lizarazu in 1998.
It's a pity that Lucas ended his World Cup trip early due to injury, otherwise the healthy competition between the two brothers will become a double guarantee for the left side of France.
It is worth mentioning that the brothers also came from the youth training of Atletico Madrid, but the career paths of the two brothers are completely different.
Although the elder brother Lucas is not as talented as his younger brother, he was the first to be promoted to the first team of Atletico Madrid and started to play in La Liga. At that time, the younger brother Special Olympics who started first had just been promoted to the U19 youth team of Atletico Madrid.
In 2017, when Lucas was the main left-back position in Atletico Madrid, Special Olympics had already joined Real Madrid at a high price of 24 million euros. This year was very important to both brothers.
In 2018, Lucas won the World Cup with the French team and joined Bayern in 2019 at a sky-high price of 80 million euros.
Although Special Olympics failed to gain a firm foothold in Real Madrid, he quickly established his main position after joining AC Milan.
Ignaki Williams (28, forward) Nico Williams (20, forward)
Each is the master but the brotherhood is deep
Brothers should play together, but this World Cup has the first pair of half-brothers representing different national teams in the history of the World Cup - 28-year-old Iniaki Williams played for Ghana, 20-year-old Neil Ko Williams played for Spain.
In the 2014 World Cup, the Boateng brothers represented Germany and Ghana respectively, but they are half brothers.
In the group stage, Germany, which finally won the championship, drew with Ghana 2:2. Boateng was the main midfielder of Ghana, and Boateng Jr. was the main right back of Germany.
"The most important thing is that I want to face Ghana," Nico said in an interview ahead of the start of the World Cup.
"It's a rivalry between brothers, we always played against each other in the park as kids and I hope we can do it again as professionals."
Ignaki Williams and Nico Williams both play for Bilbao, and the team currently ranks fourth in La Liga.
The 28-year-old Ignaki is a center forward. He has played for Bilbao since 2012 and scored 10+ goals in three seasons in 2016, 2018, and 2019. He was selected for the national team in 2016 and helped Spain Beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3:1 in a friendly match.
But since then he has not been called up again, only playing one senior game for Spain.
This season, he made 14 starts in 15 appearances, scoring 5 goals and 1 assist.
In July this year, Ghana officially announced that Iniaki will play on behalf of the "Black Star".
It was not an easy decision for him: he has only been back to his parents' country Ghana twice, and the second time he was even more impressed: "We have our own roots, our own family history. We don't know where we live Africa is what it is, but my parents' values and culture are part of my identity and I will never forget that."
Grandfather played an important role in Ignaki's transfer to Ghana. "It was a dream of my grandfather to see me in the national team jersey. He said he was 90 years old and he would not live long, but hope To see me play in the World Cup."
After hearing what his grandfather said, Ignaki obeyed his heart and made a firm choice.
He can have a stable playing time in Ghana, starting consecutive games. In the second round of the group match against South Korea, Inyaki assisted Kudus, and Ghana once again surpassed the score and kept it until the end.
Nico is 8 years younger than his elder brother and works as a winger. He has made 13 starts in 14 appearances this season and scored 3 goals and 3 assists.
Nico's breakthrough speed is extremely fast, he can play both left and right sides, and he can also create opportunities through running positions without the ball. After losing the ball, he quickly counter-robbers is also the characteristic that Spain needs.
Nico's selection to the national team went quite smoothly. In the 2022 UEFA Europa League, he has represented Spain in 2 appearances and sent 1 assist. It is logical that he will be selected for the World Cup squad.
Andre Ayew (32, forward) Jordan Ayew (31, forward)
Fulfilling the dreams of our parents
In addition to having the elder brother of the Williams brothers, Ghana also has a pair of Ayew brothers who are "brothers in battle". The elder brother Andre and the younger brother Jordan are both forwards, and they are only one year apart. The brothers also participated in the 2014 World Cup together. .
Ghana captain Andre Ayew also played alongside Jordan Ayew.
The brothers came from a football family, and their father, Abedi Ayew, was twice elected African Footballer of the Year and one of Africa's greatest stars, as evidenced by his nickname Abedi Pele.
Abedi's younger brother Kwame Ayew also embarked on the road of professional football with the help of Abedi.
In 2003, Kwame won the last A-A Golden Boot in Shenyang Jinde. In 2004, he moved to Shanghai International and won the first-year Golden Boot of the Chinese Super League.
Regrettably, neither Abedi nor Kwame have ever set foot on the World Cup.
Fortunately, Abedi's son fulfilled the dreams of the two brothers, which can be regarded as the inheritance of brotherhood between the two generations.
Andre participated in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups with the team, and the Qatar World Cup brothers participated together.
Andre started all 9 games in the three World Cups, scoring 3 goals and 1 assist, while Jordan has not yet participated in scoring.
The younger brother Jordan has performed well in Crystal Palace. In his 8-year Premier League career, the most goals scored are 9 goals in the 2019-2020 season.
As a striker, he even experienced a 42-game scoring drought; but he can always gain the trust of the coaching team by virtue of his diligence and the characteristics of not occupying the ball, and firmly occupy the main position.
Andre is only one year older than his younger brother, but he has already faded out of the five major European leagues. In the past two years, he has joined Al-Sad in the Qatar League; but in the national team, he is still a well-deserved captain that his teammates can rely on.
Eden Hazard (31 years old, forward) Thorgan Hazard (29 years old, midfielder)
most famous but most frustrated
In this World Cup, the most famous brother combination should belong to the Hazard brothers of Belgium. The two helped Belgium win the third place in the 2018 World Cup.
The boss Eden Hazard played for Lille, Chelsea, and Real Madrid successively. He won the Ligue 1 and French Cup championships in Lille. He was named the best young player in Ligue 1 and the best player in Ligue 1; A Champions League title and two Premier League titles.
Although Eden moved to Real Madrid in 2019 due to injuries and weight gain, resulting in a sharp decline in his state, he is still the absolute main player in the national team. He contributed 1 goal and 1 assist in the European qualifiers, helping Belgium advance to the World Cup finals.
The younger brother Thorgen is not as talented as Eden. The highlight of his career was his 13 goals and 11 assists in Borussia in the 2018-2019 season.
In Dortmund in recent years, Thorgen has been the main rotation player.
Regrettably, the performance of the two brothers in the group stage was disappointing. Belgium only scored 1 goal in three games and was eliminated in the group stage.
This could be Eden Hazard's last World Cup captaincy.