Schmeichel, Thuram, Blind, Chiesa, Hagi and Conceição head into the last 16. This is not nostalgia, an old goals tape discovered among the videos in the junk room; this is now. As the knockout round of Euro 2024 gets under way, Kasper, Marcus, Daley, Federico, Ianis and Francisco, sons of Peter, Lilian, Danny, Enrico, Gheorghe and Sergio, go in search of the chance to make their countries proud and their parents prouder. And to make everyone else feel very, very old, in the name of the father.
This is not the first time there have been footballers’ sons at the Euros – a goal from Federico Chiesa at Euro 2020, 25 years and 12 days after his dad, Enrico, scored at Anfield during Euro 96, made the Chiesas the first family to have two goalscoring generations in the competition – and some of these kids are not so young any more, a third generation on the way. Some are better than their dads were; some never will be. Daley Blind has 107 caps, 65 more than his father, Danny; “something we can both be proud of,” he says. Kasper Schmeichel is 37 and on 104 caps, closing in on his dad.
But there is still a little catching up to do: the fathers have 503 caps between them, the sons 324. The set is completed by the 21-year-old Francisco Conceição, who has only played three games for Portugal – all of them here. And if the Chiesas were the first to have a father and son goalscorer, this could be the first time the same family has two generations of champions: Peter Schmeichel won this competition with Denmark in 1992, Lillian Thuram in 2000. What chance Kasper or Marcus now?
They all play for the same country as their fathers, although they might not have done: Thiago Alcântara, born in Italy and raised in Vigo where his World Cup-winning father, Mazinho, was playing for Celta, represented Spain. Ianis Hagi was born in Turkey and Thuram in Italy, precisely because their dads were footballers, away from home.
Francisco, “Chico”, had played under his dad as coach. Sergio gave him his Porto debut, in fact, sending him on in the derby against Boavista. Porto were losing 2-1 and Chico was 21. He also changed everything. Porto brought it back to 3-2 or thought they had, only for the VAR, which ruins everything, to ruin it. And then his dad packed him off to Ajax. “He’s a lad who still got a long way to go,” he said. He never had gone easy on him: Chico’s brother Rodrigo recalled how their father said Chico was too fat and needed to lose weight, saying: “You’re hungry? Drink water.”
Daley Blind played under his dad too; 14 of his father’s 17 games in charge of the Dutch national team had his son in the team and, as assistant to Louis van Gaal, there was that lovely moment at the World Cup when Daley ran to him to celebrate. When his father left the post, Blind Jr admitted: “It was not always easy and it didn’t always sit comfortably. But I am proud of the way you always took responsibility.” There’s guidance even if no coaching; when Inter won the league this season, Marcus Thuram bounced about to chants against Juventus until his dad, who played for the Old Lady and is so embarrassing, gave him a clip round the ear.
It’s not just not easy. “The pressure he lives with in his country is intense,” says a member of the staff at Alavés, where Ianis Hagi plays. “Sometimes it is incredibly irritating, and seemingly inescapable, something you’d rather not talk about.” (Sorry about that.) Kasper Schmeichel is a Premier League champion, an international with more than 100 caps, not the “son of”, for ever told he’ll never be as good as the old man and sick of it, a joke heard a million times before.
“I have always let it slide, let it slide, let is slide but I reached the point where I think: ‘No, I’m not going to let it slide any more’,” Schmeichel told the Mail. “And my dad hates it too and he’s ruthless. Some guy came over and shook his hand and said: ‘You’re a legend mate. Your son’s doing well but he’ll never be as good as you.’ My dad looked at him and said: ‘Just go. You’re going to come here and insult my son and think you’re going to get away with it?’”
A father himself, Schmeichel Jr has seen it all before. Blind too. Thuram has played a World Cup final. For the tournament’s debutants, there is still a name of their own to make, and that can be part of the battle. Both Conceição and Hagi might not have been here at all. The latter, whose father had curiously parallel careers at Spain’s two big clubs – two seasons, a Uefa Cup semi-final, a Copa del Rey final lost to Atlético Madrid and only a Super Cup won – has had a difficult season on loan at Alavés from Rangers.
Two-footed, playing off the front or coming in from wide, Hagi strikes the ball well and has undoubted quality, staff say, if not the talent his father had. But he arrived after a knee injury, still a little weak, and never got the continuity he needed. That might even have been good for Romania – he arrived fresh, strength built up over the season – and they trust that next term will be better: the problem is that he does not belong to them, so they may not get to see it.
Chico meanwhile was a late inclusion, a late addition too, coming on for Portugal in the last minute against the Czech Republic. Described by his coach, Roberto Martínez, as a coal-mover – a man who shakes the game up, in other words – he got the winner inside 111 seconds, the Conceiçãos joining the Chiesas as the only the second father and son combination to score at the Euros. “He deserves it,” Martínez said. “He has the final pass, scores goals, has personality and also tactical discipline. He has his father like all players.”
Chico said: “I’m proud of my dad, my mum, my girlfriend, my siblings. I really wanted to make the Portuguese people happy, and my family especially, for all they suffer. This victory is for them.”
