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Having a brother is one of the most priceless things in the world, with a sibling offering some truly cherishable and unforgettable moments growing up.
A brother can be many things, a confidant, friend, playmate and more often than not, they are usually there to make our life easier as we navigate through the emotional rollercoaster called life.
Though they might have so much in common, the norm is for brothers to venture into different career paths, as their individuality and preferences guides their vocational choices, but it is not strange to see brothers intertwined in the same professional path.
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There are numerous vocations where brothers excel in together and football is not an exception, with brothers like Bobby and Jack Charlton, Michael and Brian Laudrup, Gary and Phil Neville, and Yaya and Kolo Toure all dominating the game in the distant past.
The current era is no different and there are more than a handful of brothers who are strutting their stuff in the beautiful game.
In this piece, we profile the top five active brothers in football currently.
#5 Jordan and Andre Ayew
These two brothers are the product of footballing royalty, having come from the loins of possibly Africa's greatest footballer, Abedi 'Pele' Ayew.
Though the brothers are unlikely to match the illustrious heights attained by their father, they have gone some way in making a name for themselves.
Andre is the older of the pair and broke into the limelight when he captained an unfancied Ghanaian side to the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 and since then, it has been a stop-start career for the former Swansea man.
Given his father's exploits in the south of France with Marseille, it came as no surprise that the French outfit took a chance on Ayew and he represented the club for eight seasons (with loan spells in-between) and made 152 Ligue 1 appearances, scoring 45 goals.
Further spells have been taken in at Swansea City and West Ham and the 29-year-old is currently plying his trade in Turkey with Fenerbache on loan from the Welsh outfit.
Jordan is just a year younger than his elder brother and like Andre, he started out in the Marseille academy but took a while to get going and scored just 14 goals from 114 Ligue 1 appearances for the cub.
He arrived in England in 2015 when he signed for Aston Villa from where he went on to Swansea (where he was teammates with his brother) and he currently stars for Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The two brothers are established Ghanaian internationals, with Andre Ayew having made 86 appearances for the Black Stars with 15 goals, while his younger brother has won 58 caps for Ghana, scoring 16 goals.
Also check out: Premier League Table Champions League table La liga table 2019-20
#4 Lars and Sven Bender
Unlike every other sibling on this list, Sven and Lars are twins who are almost identical and have each spent the entirety of their career in the German league.
Lars is the older of the two (by exactly 11 minutes) and he began his professional career with 1860 Munich in 2006 where he spent three years, before signing for Bayer Leverkusen in 2009.
He has since starred for the club at right-back and rose through the ranks to become captain of the team in 2015. In total, Lars Bender has made over 350 appearances for Leverkusen in all competitions, scoring 28 goals.
His brother is a midfielder who also began his career with 1860 Munich in the same year as Lars and together, they departed the club in 2009 but whereas his older brother went on to Bayer Leverkusen, Sven joined Borussia Dortmund and spent the next eight years with the club, playing a part in the successes enjoyed in this period.
In the summer of 2017, Bayer Leverkusen reunited the brothers eight years after their professional careers took different paths when they signed Sven Bender for the sum of €15m.
A piece of history was rewritten on matchday 5 in the Champions League when Bayer Leverkusen faced Lokomotiv Moscow, as it marked the first time in Champions League history that two sets of twins faced each other, with Lokomotiv's Aleksei and Anton Miranchuk coming up against the Bender brothers.
On the international scene, they are both German internationals, with Lars having won 19 caps with four goals, while Sven has seven appearances but is yet to get off the mark.
#3 Jerome and Kevin-Prince Boateng
Jerome Boateng is a center-back who has starred for Bayern Munich for the last eight years and is widely regarded as one of the finest defenders in the world.
He started his career with the youth ranks of Hertha Berlin and went on to represent sides like Hamburg and Manchester City before achieving global fame with the Bavarians.
At Bayern, Jerome Boateng as won everything winnable including seven consecutive Bundesliga titles and was a key member of the legendary side that made history by winning the treble in 2013.
On the international scene, he has also starred for Germany, winning 76 caps since 2009 and helped his adopted nation to the World Cup trophy in 2014.
He has an elder brother, Kevin-Prince who although talented lacks his level of professionalism and has been embroiled in numerous off-field incidents and controversies that have combined to ensure he never reached the heights expected.
The 32-year-old Kevin-Prince is one year older than his brother, but is nowhere near the level operated on by Jerome.
His career has been average at best and he has been something of a journeyman, with 12 clubs represented in his career including AC Milan, Las Palmas, Fiorentina, Borussia Dortmund, and Tottenham Hotspur.
Most of his spells at his various clubs have been united by one factor, controversies, although there was a rather shocking transfer to Barcelona in January 2019 where Kevin-Prince won a league title but made just four appearances in six months at Camp Nou.
On the international scene, though he was eligible for Germany like his brother (having been born there), Kevin-Price's inconsistencies meant that he was unlikely to make the step up to the senior team despite starring for the junior sides.
He elected to represent the country of his parents (Ghana) and at the 2010 World Cup, the Boatengs became the first brothers to face off in a World Cup fixture (a feat they repeated four years later).
Unsurprisingly, his international career did not last long and he has not been called up to Ghana since 2014, having made just 15 appearances for the West Africans, scoring two goals.
#2 Thiago and Rafael Alcantara
The Alcantara brothers are also products of footballing royalty by virtue of being the sons of Brazilian legend Mazinho who was one of the stars as Brazil won the 1994 World Cup.
The two brothers started out their football development in the famed La Masia, joining the Barcelona academy while their father played professionally in Spain.
Expectedly, Thiago made his professional debut first, making a substitute appearance for the first team in May 2009.
For the next four years, he showed his class and was an undoubted talent who was touted to be the next big thing in the Barcelona midfield.
However, the presence of legends like Xavi, Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets severely limited his impact, but in recognition of his immense ability, Thiago was signed by Pep Guardiola when the Catalan went to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2013.
With the Bavarians, the 28-year-old has grown from strength to strength and has firmly established himself as one of the finest playmakers in the world, winning numerous titles in the process.
His younger brother made his Barcelona debut two years later, but was never as talented as Thiago and was always on the fringes of the squad, evidenced by the fact that he made just 90 appearances in eight seasons for Barcelona, although injuries played a part in hampering his contributions.
Rafinha is currently on a season-long loan at Celta Vigo where he would attempt to rediscover his best form.
On the international scene, Thiago was eligible to represent Italy (having been born there), Spain (by naturalization), and Brazil (through his parents), but ultimately chose to represent La Furia Roja of Spain, while his 26-year-old brother chose to play for Brazil.
#1 Eden and Thorgan Hazard
Eden Hazard is one of the best players in the world and his talent has been undeniable since he made his breakout with Lille in Ligue 1 when he helped the club to an unlikely league title in 2011.
A breathtaking seven-year spell followed with Chelsea and the 28-year-old is currently starring for Real Madrid, having completed his much anticipated record-breaking transfer over the summer.
He has a younger brother Thorgan who spent many years in the shadows of his more established sibling, but is finally breaking into his own and getting recognition for his abilities.
The 26-year-old represented Lens in the French league for one year, before following his older brother to Chelsea in 2012.
He, however, did not make a single appearance for The Blues in three seasons, spending his time at Chelsea on loans to different clubs, before signing permanently for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2015.
After four seasons at Borussia-Park, Thorgan was signed by Dortmund in the summer of 2019 and he would attempt to help the North Rhine-Westphalia side in their quest for domestic glory.
On the international scene, the brothers are teammates for Belgium, with Eden acting as captain and talisman of the side and has won 106 caps for the Red Devils, scoring 36 goals while his younger brother has starred for Belgium 24 times with 4 goals scored.
