Soccer as an Inheritance: Families with 3 generations of soccer players (part one)

Soccer is a beautiful sport to see and feel like a family, but also to play. This is what happened with the debut of Juan Sebastián Verón's son, Deian Verón, who wore the colors of Estudiantes de La Plata for the first time on March 7.

The young man wore the mythical number 11, which previously accompanied the two generations of the Verón family. Let us remember that Juan Sebastián, known as La Bruja, is one of the institution's greatest idols, as he managed to win the 2009 Copa Libertadores after a fruitful career in European football. He is currently still linked to the club, as he is the president of the institution of La Plata.

His father, Juan Ramón Verón, was a prolific scorer who also belonged to the Pincha family, wearing that shirt 324 times. The truth is that it is not the only case in which the legacy is passed from generation to generation. Let's look at other families that have about 3 generations of renowned professional soccer players.

Maldini family

One of the most iconic of all time. This dynasty of 3 Italian players currently has Daniel, a current AC Milan soccer player. Unlike his father and grandfather, he works as an attacking midfielder, which is why he can be considered the most “rebellious” of his entire family.

However, he will have a difficult task: to carry the legacy of a really important last name for the club. Paolo Maldini, his father, played throughout his career in that team between 1984 and 2009. With 901 games, he managed to score 33 goals and did 26 Olympic laps, with 5 UEFA Champions League, 2 Intercontinental, and 1 Club World Cup, which allows that he is classified as one of the most important footballers of all time.

Also read: The 5 most promising young soccer players

This legend for Milan also surpassed, even, the legacy of his father, Cesare. The oldest of the whole family was in Milan between 1954 and 1966, having 421 appearances during his 12 years with the "rojinegros". There he won 5 trophies, including the club's first European Cup. Without a doubt, Daniel will have to bear the responsibility of a really important surname in the Italian squad.

Guðjohnsen family

We all remember Barcelona's iconic Icelandic forward Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen. The soccer player was an important piece during his stay in the culé team, between 2006 and 2009. There he managed to win 2 Spanish Super Cups, as well as a UEFA Champions League and a league title.

However, not everyone knows that he comes from a family that also played this sport professionally. We talk about his father, Arnór, who was captain of his national team and played for several European teams, such as FC Girondins in Bordeaux or RSC Anderlecht in Belgium. In addition to this, he achieved something momentous: sharing the field with his son.

It happened in 1996 in the international field, when they were a few minutes in a commitment against Estonia when Arnór was about to retire and Eiður began his career. The funny thing is that the thing does not end there, because, currently, Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen, Eiður's son, plays as a forward for Odense BK of the Danish Super League. Authentic Icelandic legends!

Forlán family

Diego Forlán is one of the most emblematic footballers in the history of Uruguay. This player managed to win the award for Best Player of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where his team managed to make history by reaching the semifinals in which they lost against the Netherlands.

However, he also managed to have an impressive career in European football, where he wore the shirt of emblematic teams, such as Manchester United, Atlético Madrid, or Inter Milan. However, he is not the only member of his family who knew how to dedicate himself to professional football.

The first generation is Juan Carlos Corazzo, grandfather by Diego Forlán's mother. In addition to being a footballer, he went down in history as the coach who won two Copa América. The member of the second generation was Pablo Forlán, Corazzo's son-in-law, who played in the 1966 and 1974 World Cups, as well as being a Peñarol historian. However, as we have seen, in this case, the third generation was the most representative of the family.

Alonso family

Finally an important family for Spanish football. We currently know the third generation of these players, thanks to the prominent Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso, a quite important left-back of the English team, with a current market value of 13 million euros.

However, as in the previous cases, there are also prominent relatives … with the same name, in all cases. The first was Marcos Alonso Imaz, who played a large part of his career in the 1950s at Real Madrid, where he won 5 leagues, 5 European Cups, and 1 Intercontinental Cup, among other titles.

The second was Marcos Alonso Peña, who, unlike the previous one, played for his greatest rival: FC Barcelona, where he spent 5 years and managed to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League in 1986. Here the competition between family members is quite disputed, but the current Chelsea defender still has a way to go.