Keep it in the family

By Paolo Menicucci

AC Perugia have been one of the surprise packages of the Serie A season and their president Luciano Gaucci has a surprising theory that he hopes will help the club maintain their impressive form.

Fantastic form
The Italian team is currently ninth in the league, three points off a UEFA Cup spot, and also in the Coppa Italia semi-finals after defeating Juventus FC in the last eight. Their elevated position owes more than a little to the performances of the striker Fabrizio Miccoli, who is on loan from Juventus, and the 18-year-old Nigerian playmaker Chris Obodo, who is attracting the attention of some of Serie A's most prestigious clubs.

'Talent is in the blood'
Their form is such that Gaucci has taken an unusual gamble and signed Frederico Miccoli, the 16-year-old brother of Fabrizio, and plans are also afoot to complete the transfer of Kennet Obodo, the younger brother of Chris. As Gaucci, who is also a well-known racehorse owner in Italy, explains: "I have always believed that talent is in the blood, in the DNA of players. I discovered this with horses. Sons or brothers of my best horses are all becoming great champions as well. That's why I'm sure that Miccoli and Obodo's younger brothers will become great players."

Many examples
Although Gaucci's theory is speculative there are plenty of examples to support it. Jack and Bobby Charlton are arguably the most successful brothers in the world of football. Bobby is a veteran of four FIFA World Cup campaigns and both brothers played in England's 1966 World Cup-winning team.

Baresi brothers
In Italy the most successful sibling story involves the Baresi brothers. Franco won the Italian first division six times with AC Milan who were also champions of Europe three times during his stint at the club during the 80s and 90s. Franco also won 81 Italian caps. Franco's brother, Internazionale FC's Giuseppe, was less talented than Franco but the hard-working midfield player was also an Italian international and played in the 1986 World Cup finals.

Inzaghis lead the way
There are several pairs of brothers currently playing in Serie A. The most famous is Milan's Filippo Inzaghi and S.S. Lazio's Simone, who have also played together for the national side. Additionally there is Emanuele (AC Parma) and Antonio Filippini (Brescia Calcio) and Damiano (Atalanta BC) and Cristiano Zenoni (Juventus FC) who are twins. Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri also have younger brothers who are professional footballers. Edy Baggio plays for Salernitana Sport in Serie B while Massimiliano Vieri plays in attack for Hellas-Verona FC.

World Cup winners
There are other examples of successful footballing brothers around Europe. Fritz and Ottmar Walter were both World Cup winners with West Germany in 1954. In the 1978 World Cup, Willy and René van de Kerkhof were runners-up with the Dutch side while in the 1982 World Cup Zlatko and Zoran Vujovic both played for Yugoslavia. Another set of brothers, Michael and Brian Laudrup, were instrumental in Denmark's 1992 UEFA European Championship success.

European success
Frank and Ronald de Boer won the 1995 UEFA Champions League with AFC Ajax. More recently Emile and Mpo M'Penza have played together for Belgium, while Rod, Ray and Danny Wallace all played for Southampton FC in the English first division, the first set of three brothers to do so. Currently playing for England and in the Premiership, for Manchester United FC, are the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, whose sister represents England at netball to add credence to Gaucci's curious theory.

Gaucci gamble
Gaucci also has a proven track record of plucking talented players from obscurity as he did with Hidetoshi Nakata in 1998, the first Japanese player to join Serie A, who he then sold two years later to AS Roma for €20m. So, with his eye for a star and the multitude of previous examples of sibling success, Gaucci's punt on Obodo jnr and Miccoli jnr could just pay off.