A total of 622 players from 24 different national teams will parade through German lands over the next four weeks at Euro 2024; six of them whose surnames already experienced the continental tournament firsthand…but with another name.
And in this Euro Cup there will be six family sagas that remember old laurels to give luster to their surnames through their descendants. Like father Like Son.
From Peter to Kasper Schmeichel
One of the most notorious and already repeated cases is that of Schmeichel. Peter Schmeichel, legendary Manchester United goalkeeper, was the great hero of the Danish Red Dynamite when they won the Euro 1992 Championship.
His son Kasper, also a historic goalkeeper for the Danes, appears in this Euro Cup on his way to being 38 years old, after a long and solid career with Denmark, which had its crowning moment in the last European Championship, when they rose to third place.
From Enrico to Federico Chiesa
Italy is a country given to producing great family sagas in football, such as the Mazzola or the Maldini.
Now it is the Chiesa who maintain the tradition. Enrico was one of the most outstanding Italian strikers of the nineties. He wore the ‘Azzurra’ shirt at Euro 96 in England, in which he scored a goal against the Czech Republic.
Federico Chiesa has already surpassed his father after being crowned European champion in the last multi-venue championship. He scored two goals, ending a 53-year curse without the transalpines lifting the Henri Delaunay Cup.
From Danny to Daley Blind
One of the countries that, unlike Italy, remains stuck in a great drought without lifting the maximum continental confinement of national teams is the Netherlands.
One of the then most prominent Dutch defenders in the 80s was Danny Blind.
The historic captain of Ajax, the one who lifted the Amsterdam team’s last Champions League in 1995, would instead go with the Netherlands to the 1992 and 1996 events, although he would not make it past the semi-finals.
His son Daley, impressive at Girona, appears with the team led by Ronald Koeman – Dutch protagonist in the ’88 title – with the intention of achieving what his father could not.
From Lilian to Marcus Thuram
Lilian Thuram, then still a right back – she would later become an insurmountable centre-back – was one of the strongholds at the back of that France led by Zinedine Zidane.
His son Marcus, a forward, will also now play in the Euro Cup. The striker of Inter Milan, the great rival of Juventus, where his father excelled, arrives at the tournament after a convincing season with the ‘Nerazzurri’, with whom he has conquered Serie A.
From Gica to Ianis Hagi
Gheorghe ‘Gica’ Hagi established himself as the undisputed leader of the Romanian national team, which, with his precision on the left leg, he would lead to the most golden era in its history.
Without having inherited the same impressive hitting, but with his instinct and will, there is Ianis Hagi. The winger has just concluded a consistent season in the attack of Luis García’s Alavés and faces the European Championship with the desire to show that a great surname does not have to be a loss, but rather an opportunity.
From Sergio to Francisco Conceiçao
The last of the families that make up this select club has a Portuguese accent. Sergio Conceiçao was one of the most sought-after wide players on the international scene in the late nineties.
Portugal had him in the Euro Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000. He started as a substitute, but in the third game Conceiçao would put on the performance of his life and score a formidable hat trick against Germany, which was out of the tournament.
And one of those who will try for a new victory is Francisco Conceiçao. After a shocking start to his career at Porto, a move to Ajax seemed to have stalled his development.
However, a return loan to the Dragons has relaunched him, with a solid campaign. His father, from the bench, was the architect of both his debut and his return to Porto.
Keep reading:
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– Toni Kroos after Germany’s great debut at Euro 2024: “We did what we set out to do”