Football rivalries go beyond borders, and the fact that we have seen brothers opting to represent different nations is a testament to that. Their choice of countries largely depends on their leaning towards the quality of football and the wage paid by a certain nation. While some footballers opt to play for their native or pick their mother or father’s native, others choose to represent the country they are settled in.
For instance, Granit Xhaka plays for Switzerland, while his brother Taulant Xhaka plies his trade for Albania. Granit is the better of the two brothers and wanted to represent Albania, but as he didn’t receive a call-up from their national team, he ended up playing for the Swiss team. Granit is an important part of the Arsenal midfield currently and rakes up a salary of £6,240,000 per season. He is reportedly set to move to Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season. Meanwhile, his brother and defensive midfielder Taulant earns €150,000 annually from Swiss club Grasshopper as a part of his loan transfer deal from FC Basel.
Another prime example is the Boateng brothers. While Kevin-Prince Boateng represented Ghana, his brother and prolific defender Jerome Boateng featured for Germany. The attacking midfielder chose to represent his father’s native Ghana, but Jerome stuck with his mother’s native land Germany. Kevin-Prince fetches £2,080,000 annually from Besiktas, while Jerome makes £4,316,000 from French club Lyon FC.
Meanwhile, Thiago Alcantara and Rafinha Alcantara are among the famous brothers to select different nations to pursue their footballing careers. The older brother Thiago moved to Spain and was a student of La Masia, FC Barcelona’s academy, before representing the nation. And although Rafinha made his youth appearances for Spain, the central defender played for Brazil’s senior team. Thiago currently fetches a salary of £10,400,000 from English football giants Liverpool, while Rafinha makes £3,484,000 per year from Al-Arabi.
Among the lesser popular brothers to have represented different nations are John and Harry Souttar. While John represented Scotland, Harry plied his trade for Australia. The center-backs were eligible to play for the Socceroos due to their mother’s nationality. Both the brothers played for Scotland’s age group teams, but Harry received a call-up from Australia and decided to represent the nation. The older brother John makes £421,200 per season for the Rangers, while Harry earns £18,520,000 for one-time Premier League champions Leicester City.
Cristian and Alex Roldan is another such example and among the latest addition to the lot. The brothers were eligible to play for El Salvador, the United States, and Guatemala. Incidentally, they received a call-up from all three nations, but Cristian chose to represent the US, while Alex opted for El Salvador. The older brother and midfielder Cristian fetches $981,542 from Seattle Sounders FC, while Alex makes $232,500 on loan at Tacoma Defiance.
