Siblings play for 2 teams at the World Cup
"Brothers, teammates and now, can be rivals at the World Cup. Athletic Bilbao strikers Inaki and Nico Williams will become the next pair of brothers to play for two teams at a World Cup," Sport said. News Africa commented.
The Williams brothers were born in Bilbao, Spain to a Ghanaian immigrant family. Inaki and Nico's parents leave their homeland, going on a long journey to Europe in search of a better life.
According to Inaki, his parents had to get in the back of a crowded truck and walk barefoot across the Sahara desert to Spain. His mother became pregnant when the two were arrested while trying to immigrate to Spain illegally. They were later granted political asylum when they heard advice from a charity worker. This person advised them to declare that the reason for coming to Spain was to escape the civil war in Liberia. The couple moved to the Basque Country, where Inaki was born. Inaki joined Athletic Bilbao's youth system at a very young age, and Nico also followed in the footsteps of his eight-year-old brother.
"My brother and I always told each other that we would do everything for our parents, for what they did for us," Inaki told Spanish newspaper Marca. "We wanted, somehow, to repay the sacrifices made by our parents to make our dreams come true."
The Williams brothers are the few players of African descent who have played for Bilbao - a club that has traditionally signed players who were born locally, or who went through the football academies of teams in the Basque Country. .
Last season, Inaki broke the record for the most consecutive appearances in La Liga with 203 matches, and now sets the milestone of 240 matches. But he was not called up to Spain after the 2016 match. Therefore, he accepted an invitation from the Ghana Football Federation when this African country aggressively recruited players to prepare for the 2022 World Cup. Striker 28 This age made his debut for Ghana in two matches - against Nicaragua, Brazil in September.
Meanwhile, Nico, who was taken care of by Inaki as a child because his parents often went to work, was on the list of 26 Spanish players for the 2022 World Cup. The 20-year-old player was first called up by coach Luis Enrique. National team in September, and made his debut against Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League. In the second match, Nico came on from the bench and assisted Alvaro Morata to score the only goal to help Spain beat Portugal 1-0 at Braga, thereby reaching the semi-finals of the Nations League 2022-2023.
Spain is in Group E, meeting Costa Rica on November 23, Germany on November 27, and Japan on December 1. Ghana is in Group H, playing against Portugal on November 24, South Korea on November 28, and Uruguay on December 2. According to the division, the Williams brothers can only face off directly in the quarterfinals. "Hopefully it happens, and Ghana wins," said Inaki. Nico replied: "Let's wait and see. But surely my brother and I will change shirts after the game."
The same thing happened at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and in 2014 in Brazil, when the Boateng brothers played for two teams. Jerome Boateng is Germany's central defender, while his brother Kevin-Prince Boateng is Ghana's attacking midfielder. The two have faced each other on the field in both of these World Cups. The Boateng brothers share a Ghanaian father and were raised by two mothers in Germany.
Similarly, being siblings, but Taulant Xhaka and Granit Xhaka chose two different teams. While his brother Taulant played for his hometown team of Albanian origin, Granite chose to dedicate himself to Switzerland, where the two were born and raised. The Xhaka brothers faced each other directly in the Euro 2016 group stage. The two players' fathers had fled from the former Yugoslavia to Switzerland to live in the early 1990s.
Many other siblings played for the same team at the World Cup. The three Palacios brothers - Johnny, Wilson and Jerry - played for Honduras in the 2010 tournament. Andre and Jordan Ayew - sons of Abedi Pele, who won the African Footballer of the Year award three times - played for Ghana. at the 2014 World Cup, and will continue to stand side by side in Qatar 2022.
Yaya and Kolo Toure both played for Ivory Coast in 2010 and 2014. Jonathan and Giovani dos Santos played for Mexico, while Eden and Thorgan Hazard played for Belgium at the 2018 World Cup.
Twins Frank and Ronald de Boer with the Netherlands at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups - where they reached the semi-finals. Another Dutch twin - Rene and Willy van de Kerkhof - made it to the final twice, in 1974 and 1978, but lost both. Erwin and Ronald Koeman - not twins - played for the Netherlands at the 1990 World Cup. Denmark had Brian and Michael Laudrup at the 1998 tournament, while England called up Jack and Bobby Charlton for the 1966 and 1970 World Cups.
