By: Christopher Emenyonu
The dream of every parent is to see their children succeed in any area of life they wish to ply their trade. But never will they have prayed that their children become opponents or rivals in their different trades.
But football says otherwise. Over the years, we have seen football brothers go against each other on the field of play or on rare occasions both playing together for the same team.
We have seen the De Boer brothers, Koeman brothers, Cannavaro brothers, Milito brothers, the Neville brothers and so many others in years past grace the pitch. In more recent years, we have the Xhaka brothers, the Pogbas, the Benders, the Donnarummas, the Da Silvas at Manchester United, the Hazards and so on make their careers as footballers.
Football Brothers: African Brothers Act Or War?
In Africa, we have also seen brothers take to the pitch for different clubs or in some cases the same club just like how The Toure brothers -Kolo and Yaya were together at Manchester City although they were at different clubs before then.
We have also seen the Ayew brothers in action for different clubs. The Boateng brothers did not only play for different clubs but different countries as well. The Wanyanma brothers – MacDonald, Victor, Thomas and Sylvester also graced the pitch in their family name.
We also had the Gyan brothers in Ghana, Khune brothers in South Africa and the Kone brothers in Ivory Coast.
In Nigeria, we have had Kalu brothers – Ikechukwu and Kalu played in the La Liga for Almeria and Real Zaragoza and for the Super Eagles. In the early 90s we had the Okocha brothers – Austin and Emmanuel, the Odegbamis – Segun and Wole, the Kanus – Nwankwo and Christopher.
We also had the Babayros, the Utakas, the Babgindas and the Orumas also make the list of brothers who played football.
The tradition will not seem to stop any time soon as we are making a register of brothers who ply their trades for different clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League.
The Alimi brothers
Alimi brothers, Sikiru and Adebayo are taking the path of their father who also played football before becoming an airforce officer. Sikiru had been the one who hit it running early on as he has not only played for different clubs in the NPFL but has also played in Morocco,Libya and Tunisia. Sikiru plays as a striker and he has been prolific in front of goal.
The younger of the two, Adebayo started out his professional career with relegated MFM FC in 2020. He was one of the shining lights in the MFM squad that got relegated in 2022. His performance did then earn him a move to Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan for the 2023 season after the club signed his brother on a free transfer.
Both brothers were unveiled in a video that told their story but ahead of the new season, the brothers will be up against each other as Alimi made a return to Remo Stars.
The Olisema brothers
Cyril Olisema has become a household name in the NPFL. If not for adorning the colours of clubs like Enyimba and Akwa United at different points of his life, it will be for the spectaculars he keeps scoring every season.
Currently, he is back with Akwa United after a short trip out of the country but Cyril will not be the only player answering Olisema in the coming season. His brother Ekene has joined the party in the topflight.
Ekene joined newly promoted side, Sporting Lagos from Warri Wolves where he was captain of the side. Ekene had gone up against his brother already in the postseason tournament – the Naija Super 8 where Sporting Lagos edged Akwa United for a place in the finals of the competition.
These will definitely still have lots of battles in the coming season.
We have also had in the NPFL the Obaje brothers – Godwin and Joshua who played, the Okoro brothers – Stanley and Osas, the Gata brothers – Ismail and Issa, the Odah brothers – Okiemute and Onoriode. They never played for the same club and faced each other at one time or the other in the league
Blood is thicker than water they say but sometimes, football says no.