Four sets of brothers set for UEFA EURO 2016
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
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There are a record-equalling four sets of brothers among the 552 players at UEFA EURO 2016, including a first for the competition: two on opposing sides.
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There are four sets of brothers among the players at UEFA EURO 2016, equalling a competition record set in 2000.
Belgium: Jordan and Romelu Lukaku
Northern Ireland: Corry and Jonny Evans
Russia: Vasili and Aleksei Berezutski
Albania and Switzerland: Taulant and Granit Xhaka
The tournament was expected to take the record outright but Thorgan Hazard, whose sibling Eden was named Belgium captain, missed out on the final 23.
There is one first this summer, though, with Taulant and Granit Xhaka selected to represent different countries – their native Switzerland in the case of Granit; and Albania, their parents' homeland, for Taulant. The two sides meet in Lens on Saturday.
These eight siblings join a stellar cast of brothers who have turned out at EUROs since Dutch pair René and Willy van de Kerkhof became the first in 1976. The list in full is:
1976
Netherlands: René and Willy van de Kerkhof
1980
Belgium: Luc and Marc Millecamps
Germany: Bernd and Karlheinz Förster
Italy: Franco and Giuseppe Baresi
1984
Germany: Bernd and Karlheinz Förster
1988
Netherlands: Erwin and Ronald Koeman
1996
Denmark: Brian and Michael Laudrup
England: Gary and Phil Neville
2000
Belgium: Emil and Mbo Mpenza
England: Gary and Phil Neville
Netherlands: Frank and Ronald de Boer
Sweden: Daniel and Patrik Andersson
2004
Croatia: Niko and Robert Kovač
England: Gary and Phil Neville
Switzerland: Murat and Hakan Yakin
2008
Croatia: Niko and Robert Kovač
Russia: Vasili and Aleksei Berezutski