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Which footballers stepped out of their legendary fathers' shadows?

One mini roulette in front of his father seems to have built a fair bit of excitement about Enzo ...



Which footballers stepped out...
Soccer

Which footballers stepped out of their legendary fathers' shadows?

One mini roulette in front of his father seems to have built a fair bit of excitement about Enzo Fernandez.

To recap, the Real Madrid youngster is the eldest son of the France legend Enzo Zidane and lines out for Real Madrid B team which is managed by his father.

He has plenty to live up to and he is not the first young footballer who has had to play under the shadow of a legendary father who has won pretty much every individual and team award going.

But some of have managed to fare well or at the very least had acceptable careers...

 

The Mazzolas

In 1949, the Superga air disaster wiped out the entire Torino football team. At the time, they were Italy's leading force and among the dead was Valentino Mazzola, a legend for both the Turin club and the Italian national team.

His death at the age of 30 left his son Sandro fatherless at the age of 6 (he was raised by Valentino after his parents' divorce).

But amid the tragedy, he did inherit his father's footballing ability and during the '60s and 70s, Sandro would become an Italy legend in his own right, winning 70 caps and appearing in the 1970 World Cup final as well as winning the 1968 Euros.

A one club man, the late forward and captain is one of Inter Milan's greats as a part of the iconic La Grande Inter team of the 1960s which saw him win four Scudettos, two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.

 

The Maldinis

Little needs to be said about former Italy and AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini. One of the all-time best defenders and another one-club man, Paolo won the European Cup seven times and was part of many a great Milan side from the 1980s up to the noughties.

Cesare Maldini ©INPHO / Patrick Bolger

But it is easy to forget that his father Cesare, who would later manager the Italian national side, was a former league and European Cup winner as a Milan captain and defender.

It won't hurt him to know that his son eclipsed his own brilliant achievements in consummate style.

 

The Wright-Phillips

When you apply the word legendary in a contest between Ian Wright and adopted son Shaun Wright-Phillips, the father wins out based on his Arsenal career.

Yet, strangely enough it was Wright-Phillips who won more England caps, earning 36 caps to his father's 33.

There is a caveat however, as the England strikeforce was harder to break into during Ian's time with the likes of Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Andy Cole and Michael Owen all contesting forward roles in the 1990s.

Either way, on the balance of their careers, it is Wright the elder who wins out clearly, even if Shaun had a very good career at times, particularly during the winger's time at Man City and is not necessarily compared to his old man at evert juncture. 

Juan Veron of Argentina ©INPHO/Allsport

The Verons

Juan Sebastian Veron is often viewed as a Premier League flop during his spells at Man United and Chelsea, but that should not mask the fact that the Argentine midfielder was a top class operator in Serie A. 

He did have a lot to live up to however. His father Juan Ramon Veron was a legend for Argentine side Estudiantes in three different spells, spanning the 1960s to the early '80s.

Veron Sr won three Copa Libertadores titles for Estudiantes and also scored against Manchester United in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup final.

Seba Veron would start his career at Estudiantes before forging his path in Europe. But eight years ago he returned to his first club and in 2009 led them to Copa Libertadores glory as his father had done. It was the first time since his father's era that the club had won South America's flagship club competition.

 

The Ayews

Abedi Pele Ayew is regarded as one of Africa's all-time greats. But the former Marseille player was never able to take his native Ghana to the World Cup finals.

Instead, his son Andrew Ayew was part of a Ghana generation which qualified for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 tournaments, although he was only involved in the latter two. However, in 2010 he did help Ghana to the brink of the semi-finals.

The younger Ayew, who plies his trade with Marseille, scored two goals at this summer's World Cup. 

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