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Competition between siblings can get pretty intense – especially if they play the same sport. Some families are gifted with talent and have more than one professional athlete. But usually, one is a little better than the other. No matter how amazing these ten players are, they manage to fall short of their brother.
1. Florentin Pogba
Florentin is Paul’s older brother. He has not enjoyed the same level of success as his younger brother. Florentin plays for the French club Saint-Étienne. However, he is not a regular in the first team. Paul has won three league titles, 2013’s Golden Boy award for the best young player in Europe, and won the best young player title at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
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2. Rodney Sneijder
Rodney’s older brother Wesley plays for the Netherlands team. He is the second most capped player for the Oranje and has scored 28 goals. Both brothers started their careers by playing for the club Ajax. But scouts were a little less impressed with Rodney, who went on to play with several other clubs.
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3. Mathias Pogba
Mathias is an older brother of Paul Pogba and Florentin’s twin. Mathias played for clubs throughout the U.K. and then signed with Scottish club Partick Thistle.
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4. Kolo Toure
Kolo and his brother Yaya are one of the most well-known families in the sport. They both played together in Manchester City for three years. In 2013, Kolo was transferred to Liverpool. He has over 100 caps for the Ivory Coast. He played in the FIFA World Cup three times. He represented the Ivory Coast in Africa Cup of Nations six times; as captain, he led the team to victory in 2015. Kolo has represented the team at FIFA three times and played in seven African Cup of Nations. He is the second-most capped player with 118 appearances. But according to the site Squawka, “he’s become a bit of a running joke of late.” And Yaya is the first player to win African Player of the Year four times in a row. That is difficult to show up.
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5. Paolo Suarez
Paolo has played with clubs throughout South America. He represented Uruguay at the U-20 level in 1999, but he never played for the senior side. He is very close with his brother Luis, who is a pretty recognizable name in the sport. Luis is the third-most expensive player in history and regarded as one of the best strikers in the world. He has won several awards, such as the 2014 PFA Player of the Year. And in 2011, he was awarded Best Player at Copa America.
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6. Anton Ferdinand
While Anton has had a solid career moving between the Championship and the Premier League, his brother Rio is one of England’s best footballing defenders. Rio has been the most expensive defender in the world twice. He joined Leeds United for £18 million. He then moved to Manchester United for £30 million, where he enjoyed a prestigious career.
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7. Mikel Alonso
Mikel has played for Real Sociedad and made a solid name for himself. But even though they began with the same team, he just has not had the same success as his younger brother, Xabi. Xabi is known to be one of the top midfielders in the world and has played for the Spanish national team 102 times. Mikel went almost two years without a club before signing with Real Unión in Segunda División B in 2014.
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8. Simone Inzaghi
Simone spent 11 seasons at Lazio, scored 28 goals in 129 league appearances, and ended his career with three caps for Italy. While this is all impressive, his brother Filippo is one of AC Milan’s most famous strikers. With 70 goals, Filippo is the fourth highest goal scorer in European club competitions – right behind Raúl, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition, he is Milan’s top international goalscorer, holds the record for most hat-tricks in Serie A, earned 57 caps for the Italian national team, and represented his country at three FIFA World Cups. Those are some tough statistics to compete with!
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9. Paolo Cannavaro
Paolo’s older brother Fabio is the first and, as of now, the only defender to ever win the FIFA World Player of the Year award. He played with Napoli, Parma, Internazionale, Juventus, Real Madrid and spent his final season in Dubai with Al-Ahli. He earned 136 caps for Italy and is known as one of the best defenders of his time. Whereas Paolo never capped for the Italian national team and stuck to the club Napoli for most of his career.
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10. McDonald Mariga
You have probably heard of Kenyan player Victor Wanyama. He is a defensive midfielder for the English club Southampton; he also leads the Kenya national team. He has earned more than 30 caps for the Kenyan national team. His half brother, McDonald Mariga, is also quite accomplished. He was the first Kenyan footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League for Internazionale in 2010. Mariga had some bad luck throughout his career – mostly, work permit issues. This prevented him from signing with English Premier League club Manchester City. Had he been signed, he would have been the first East African player to join a top English league club. This accomplishment was later achieved by none other than his half-brother, Victor.
SEE ALSO: Will You Recognize These 16 Celebrity Siblings?
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