On this “World brother day” I bring to you a situation that is rare in football but is now happening on the Paraguayan national team. We are talking about the presence of twin brothers on a national team. The “World brother day” is held in tribute to the fantastic work of Sister Teresa of Calcutta.
On this “World brother day” I bring to you a situation that is rare in football but is now happening on the Paraguayan national team. We are talking about the presence of twin brothers on a national team. The “World brother day” is held in tribute to the fantastic work of Sister Teresa of Calcutta.
Brothers who play together on clubs is not that rare but to speak of TWIN brothers well then the cases start shrinking. We have for instance the Barros Schelottos, Guillermo and Gustavo, who have been among the most famous on the continent in recent years although Guillermo, an idol for many years at Boca Juniors, went on to have a more distinguished career. Also in Argentina are the Funes Moris, Ramiro and Roger, of River Plate. If we talk about twins who have played on a national team then the number is significantly smaller and, moreover, if we go to the narrowest part of the funnel then we talk about twins who have starred on teams.
A BRIEF BIOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION
Before establishing THE biological differences between identical and fraternal twins we can take a quick minute to look at the etymology of both words.
Etymologically, both terms have the same origin (Latin gemellicium) and were used interchangeably to refer to children born at the same time. However, the semantic evolution of both words has been accompanied by the numerous advances in the field of genetics and knowledge of the human embryo. In fact, in the last edition of the RAE dictionary they were differentiated:
Identical twin: Born at the same time from the same egg.
Fraternal twin: Born at the same time and of a double birth from different eggs.
THE CHAMBERS IN ENGLAND AND THE DELY VALDES IN PANAMA
Besides the biological technical issues, people identify these pairs of siblings simply as twins.
Let’s talk about the Chambers, Adam and James, who are not only in the history of English football but of all sports history in that country for having been the first twins who defended the colors of England at any level at the 1999 youth World Cup.
The Dely Valdes, Julio Cesar and Jorge from Panama. The first is well known in Spain after his travels, quite successfully, in Oviedo and Malaga. Not so famous is his brother, despite also being considered one of the best strikers in Central American football, and an icon in Japan: he has played on six different Japanese clubs and scored well over a hundred goals.
Brothers Julio and Jorge Dely Valdés.
IN HOLLAND, TWO SETS OF TWINS THAT STOOD OUT
The Netherlands had the distinction of having not one but two sets of twins playing at the highest level and for the national team.
These are probably the most famous pair of twins. The De Boer brothers, Frank and Ronald, initially played at Ajax in their country and on the national team, the former as a defenseman and the later as a midfielder. Both were signed by Barcelona when the coach was Louis Van Gaal. Of the two it was Frank who stood out at the time as one of the best defenders in the world.
Before the De Boers, Holland had another set of twins, the Van de Kerkhofs, Rene and Willy, perhaps the first twins who reached a place of importance in world football as they played for their country in two World Cups, the German WC of ‘74 and that of Argentina in ’78 in which Holland was a finalist. In the first WC they did not have much of a chance to play on the memorable “Clockwork Orange“ team coached by Johann Cruyff but in Argentina they did make an impact so much so that they also entered into the history books as the first twins to score goals at the same World Cup.
Twins René and Willy Van de Kerkhof.
Rene is well remembered due to the incident before the 1978 World Cup final, when the Argentinians, led by captain Daniel Passarella, objected to the cast he wore on his injured forearm since it could have injured an Argentinian player. The Dutch players threatened to walk off the field. But in the end the solution was to add an extra layer of padding to the cast and the match could start.
AS PARAGUAY REBUILDS THEY ARE TRUSTING IN OSCAR AND ANGEL
The Romero twins, Oscar and Angel, first appeared with Cerro Porteño and quickly earned a place in the team and in the hearts of the fans. The excellent performance of both came to the attention of Paraguayan national team coach, Victor Genes, who called them up for the next two qualifying matches against Bolivia and Argentina. Paraguay is in the middle of a rebuilding stage and the twins are part of the new generation.
For Oscar, who had been called-up for the friendly against Germany a few weeks back, the good news keeps getting better as he was signed by club Bani Yas in the UAE and will join the team after these two qualifying games.
For now their dreams are being fulfilled as they both climbed up to the first division and then together on to the national team. And according to them the only thing lacking is that both “only need to play together overseas.” For Oscar that door has opened with the hope that his brother will follow in his steps.
Robert Singer/Conmebol.com
Photo: Néstor Soto
