The European Championships start today! In-ger-lund! In-ger-lund! God, English football is in such rude health right now! Everyone in the whole of Europe and beyond let alone this country must be so excited to watch this incredibly exciting and not at all boring England team full of majestically talented footballers who are all such upstanding gentlemen….

OK, that may not be quite the case so instead of pondering England’s chances (of whether they can get out of their group, not even thinking about winning) and as it’s coming up to Father’s Day, we thought we’d run down some of football’s dads and sons.

Mark Chamberlain and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Teams that do well in international tournaments always have that wildcard youngster with bags of potential but little international experience before the tournament starts. That player who is a mystery to the opposition and takes them by surprise. So does this mean then, that 18 year old Arsenal attacker Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will come on to be a super-sub against France and score a last minute winner, giving England real impetus for the rest of their group games and belief in themselves that carries them all the way to the final? Can he do what Wayne Rooney did in Euro 2004, who as a teenager was the best player at the tournament and definitely would’ve won the trophy for England had he not got injured in England’s Quarter-Final defeat to Portugal, except the Ox is too strong to get injured so will win it for England? Probably not but what is for sure is that he’s a better footballer than his predominately lower league playing dad Mark Chamberlian.

Johan and Jordi Cruyff

Ah, Euro 96. When football came home, footballers with the hair of Robert Plant scored audacious lobs, goalkeeping shirts looked like pizzas, and players who missed penalties did pizza ads. What a summer. It also was the heyday of the offspring of a footballing legend. Jordi Cruyff knew he was never going to be as good as his World Cup winning dad and didn’t want the weight of that famous name weighing on his shoulders. So he had Jordi printed on the back of his shirt instead. Of course, England lost on penalties to Germany at Euro 96 but really, would you have it any other way….

Paul and Thomas Ince

Engalnd’s first black captain may have been a bit on the arrogant side (he demanded teammates call him Guv’nor) which led to Alex Ferguson selling him from Manchester United to Inter Milan but he was a certainly a very commanding presence in the middle of the field. His son Thomas, more of an attacking player, has a lot to live up to then but he’s started well. He scored in Blackpool’s eventual Championship play-off final defeat to West Ham last month.

 Zinedine and Enzo Zidane 

If it wasn’t for Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Zizou would still be considered the best player of the last twenty years. Perhaps he’s the last of the truly great players to make his mark at international tournaments. These days, as club football becomes ever more powerful, Messi and Ronaldo are still to light up a World Cup or Euro, yet that isn’t widely regarded as a problem. Zinedine’s son Enzo who is eligible to play for both France and Spain at international level, is still only 17 and currently playing in Real Madrid’s youth team. Time will tell whether he can get anywhere near the levels of his old man.

 Cesare and Paolo Maldini

Arguably the greatest left back of all time, for a while it looked liked Paolo Maldini would continue to play football until he died but he did eventually retire at the grand old footballing age of 41. Considering how good he looks now 43, he may never actually die either. Like his father Cesare before him, Paolo was captain of Milan but his five European Cup wins in eight finals betters his dad’s one triumph. Cesare also managed his son as manager of Milan in 2001 and when he took the reigns of the Italian national team between 1996 and 98.

Arnor and Eidur Gudjohnsen 

Possibly the only father and son in football who could be argued to be their nation’s top two greatest ever players (though when that nation is Iceland it doesn’t sound like quite such an achievement). Arnor was one of the best players in Belgium when he played for Anderlecht during the 80s, while Eidur has played for some of the biggest teams in Europe such as Chelsea and Barcelona. In a friendly against Estonia in 1996, the pair made footballing history as the first father and son to play in the same international match. 17 year old Eidur replacing 34 year old Arnor in the second half.

Peter and Kasper Schmeichel 

Not so much big boots to fill, as big gloves (hardy ha ha!).  Peter is a Manchester United legend and one of the all time goalkeeping greats (though he started keeping goal playing Denmark’s national sport – handball) famed for his goal scoring antics. Son Kasper has a strong lower league career going for him in England but with no senior international caps. However, an injury to Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen means that Schmeichel Jnr has been drafted in to the Danes Euro 2012 squad. The two goalies ahead of him, Stephan Andersen and Anders Lindegaard better keep their eyes peeled for slyly placed banana peels.

Ian Wright and Shaun Wright-Phillips

Ian Wright, Wright, Wright! Although an absolute club legend for Arsenal, it never quite happened for him in an England shirt (something similarly experienced by Andy Cole a few years later). Adopted son Shaun Wright-Phillips looked like the same fate wasn’t going to befall him. Starring for Man City at the beginning of the last decade he earned a £21 million pound move to Chelsea and was touted as a possible long term replacement for David Beckham on England’s right wing. However, a difficult first season at Chelsea led to him missing out on selection for the World Cup in 2006. He returned to Man City in 2008 but seems a long way from the England squad these days, now plying his trade at QPR.

Frank Lampard Snr and Jnr

Frank Lampard Snr is West Ham through and through having played over 500 games for the club as a left back between 1967 and 1985 and been assistant coach to his brother in law Harry Redknapp when he was manager. Frank Jnr was raised as a Hammer but is now very much a Chelsea man. One of the supposedly ‘golden’ generation of English footballers who unspectacularly never won anything his England career is most probably now finished with the injury that has ruled him out of Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2012 squad. But not to worry, we’ve got Jordan Henderson instead!

Jean and Youri Djorkaeff

Jean Djorkaeff did not just endow his son with international standard footballing talent but also a name that is highly pleasing to say and hear. Your-e Dure-kai-aff. Lovely. Jean, a defender spent the whole of his career in France and won 48 caps for France, including in the 1966 World Cup. Youri, an attacking midfielder played in France, with Inter in Italy, Kaiserslauten in Germany, was the first Frenchman to play in the MLS when he signed for New York Metro Stars but to top it all he was part of Bolton Wanderers international dream team at the start of the last decade alongside players such as Ivan Campo and Jay-Jay Okocha. Oh, and there was also the little matter of winning the 98 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Related articles