5 footballers who surpassed their fathers' achievements

It’s not easy to be a footballer’s son, especially if your father was an accomplished player. Illustrious dads cast a giant shadow on their offsprings. Inevitably, comparisons are drawn between the two, and the father’s accomplishments put the son’s in a bad perspective. The kid is under a lot of pressure just by virtue of being his father’s son.Pressure can break down a man, but pressure also converts graphite to diamonds. Some players are far too talented to remain under their father’s, or in some cases, anyone’s shadow. Their ability and hard work on the training ground and during matches marks them out noticeably. We take a look at 5 footballers who achieved more than their fathers on the pitch.

#5 Jamie Redknapp and Harry Redknapp

Jamie was a Tottenham youth player before signing for Bournemouth to play under his father Harry, who had finished his playing career at the same club. His potential was immediately spotted by Liverpool and Jamie transferred to Liverpool at the age of 17 for what was then a hefty fee of £350,000.

At the heart of the Reds’ midfield, Jamie displayed a great range of abilities that marked him out as a special talent. His spatial awareness, ability to wriggle out of tight areas, eye for a pass and shooting range made him one of the most complete midfielders in the Premier League in the ‘90s.

Although riddled with knee injuries for big portions of his career, which caused him to miss England’s World Cup ‘98 and Euro 2000 campaigns, he was recognized as Liverpool’s biggest influence and was made the captain of the club in 1999.

Jamie went back to his boyhood club Tottenham on a free transfer in 2002, and after two-and-a-half seasons, he moved on to Southampton for his swansong in January 2005 under Harry, eventually retiring from the game at the comparatively early age of 31.

#4 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mark Chamberlain

When Alex broke through at the Southampton academy and made his first appearance for them at the age of 16 years and 199 days, he was their second youngest player after Theo Walcott to appear for them. Big things were expected of the lad.

‘The Ox’ – as Arsenal fans call him, has not disappointed thus far. He earned a £15 million transfer to Arsenal in the summer of 2011 and was an instant hit with the fans. His crossing delivery, pace and strength have marked him out as an extremely tough proposition to negotiate on the right wing.

Chamberlain made his England debut just before the Euros of 2012 in a friendly against Norway and was subsequently picked for the tournament itself, at the tender age of 18. He started in the 3-2 victory against Sweden and, in general, made a great impression during the tournament.

Ever since, he has shown adaptability and versatility in playing as a central midfielder when called upon to do so for Arsenal. Still aged just 21, he has his entire career ahead of him to make a big mark in British football, having already surpassed his father on various metrics.

#3 Sergio Busquets and Carles Busquets

When Sergio Busquets took the field in the Champions League final against Manchester United in 2009, he’d been playing top-level professional football for less than one season. Having battled all season long for the starting berth with Seydou Keita and a certain Yaya Toure, the 20-year-old had not rung many bells with his showings.

Pep Guardiola, however, retained enough faith in him to hand him a starting berth. As Busquets played a pivotal role in pinning United back and keeping Barcelona on top throughout the game, onlookers recognized his class and wholeheartedly applauded his performance, even though crowd favorite Yaya was playing centre-back in the absence of Eric Abidal.

Two years later, against the same opponents at Wembley, he produced another virtuoso performance in line with the rest of the team as Barcelona produced a footballing masterpiece to regain the Champions League trophy.

Today, Sergio is a Spanish international with over 70 caps for his country and has been a crucial component of the Spanish teams that won the World Cup and the Euros. His club career with Barcelona has produced every award in the catalogue and he himself gets great acclaim as one of the foremost players in the world who play the role he does.

#2 Frank Lampard Jr. and Frank Lampard Sr.

Frank Lampard Sr was a reputed, well-loved defender from the ‘70s and early ‘80s. A tough-tackling left-back, he made 660 appearances for the Hammers and was capped twice by his country. Frank Jr could’ve been forgiven for taking up any profession other than football to get away from comparisons with his father.

About 20 years after he turned professional, young and budding midfielders are taught to follow his example and learn how to make efficient runs into the final third and capitalize on mistakes from the defense or turn the ball into the net from balls falling into their paths.

As the greatest goalscoring midfielder of this generation, one who holds Chelsea’s all-time goalscoring record despite being a midfielder by trade, Lamps, as he is affectionately called by teammates, has exceeded all expectations of him at the beginning of his career, even the most optimistic ones.

West Ham fans would be loath to accept it, but the £11.7 million they received as payment for ‘getting rid of an unwanted player’ – as Lampard himself describes in Totally Frank – is a pittance compared to what he has been worth to Chelsea for 13 years, in which he won cartloads of trophies and individual accolades. A truly great and complete midfielder.

#1 Paolo and Cesare Maldini

The name Maldini is royalty in the Rossoneri’s history books. Over two generations, they were Milan’s shining lights in their finest hours. Cesare and Paolo are the only father-son duo to have captained any club side to the Champions League title.

To have Cesare Maldini as a father automatically brought a great amount of attention on Paolo in his early years. It is testament to his quality that today’s generation of football fans has only barely heard of Cesare but will always remember Paolo as perhaps the most complete defender of all time.

The problem with describing his illustrious career is where and how do you begin to describe a career that spans over 24 years at the highest level with a team that was consistently among Europe’s best. His career contains five Champions League trophies spread over nearly 20 years and includes over eight years as Italy’s national team captain, for 74 fixtures.

The longevity, consistency and sheer quality of defending that Paolo exhibited through the course of his career marks him out uniquely among football’s greatest ever. A son any father would be honoured to have.