The Leeds United duo have quite some way to go before matching the achievements of this bunch.
Leeds United became the latest club to employ brothers, when on Thursday they announced that Romario Vieira had signed a one-year deal with the the club.
His twin, Ronaldo, has already been on the books at Elland Road for a year. And after an impressive first month under Garry Monk, in which the 18-year-old has featured in every match, he was awarded with an improved three-year contract.
The midfield duo were born in Guinea-Bissau but raised in Portugal, and in 2011 moved to England in the hope of establishing a football career.
Romario will be hoping to emulate his brother’s success over the past 12 months; originally signing for the development squad, Ronaldo came off the bench on the final day of the 2015-16 season to make his professional debut.
He was then involved heavily in pre-season, earning the man-of-the-match award against Atalanta, and a week later he started Monk’s first competitive game in charge of Leeds in the 3-0 defeat to QPR.
Ronaldo Viera in action against Fleetwood Town’s Victor Nirrenold in the EFL Cup
Though there may have been many successful brothers throughout football history – the Nevilles, Toures and Laudrups to name a few – there has not been quite so many twins.
However, the Vieiras are not the first pair to have enjoyed each other’s company on the football field.
Frank & Ronald de Boer
46-year-old Dutch pair Frank and Ronald de Boer are perhaps the most famous twins to have ever played the beautiful game, if not the most successful. Both raised in the famous Ajax academy, they went on to achieve phenomenal success with the Amsterdam club winning five Eredivisie titles and the 1995 Champions League.
Remarkably, they played together at four more clubs after spells with Barcelona, Rangers, Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal. They even had matching goalscoring record with the Netherlands, each scoring 13 times, though centre-half Frank outshone midfielder Ronald when it came to caps, earning 112 to his brother’s 67.
Lars & Sven Bender
In similar ilk to the Vieira twins, Lars and Sven Bender both play in central midfield. Now 27 years old, they began their careers at 1860 Munich before both departing in 2009, Lars for Bayen Leverkusen and Sven for Borussia Dortmund.
At the 2008 Under-19 European Championships, they were named jointly as the players of the tournament as Germany beat Italy 3-1 in the final, and after both missing out on the 2014 World Cup due to injury, they won silver medals at the recent Rio Olympics as two of the three over-23 players.
Aleksei & Vasili Berezutski
Veteran defenders Aleksei and Vasili Berezutski have written their names in the Russian football history books since making their debuts for hometown club CSKA Moscow in 2002. Between them they have won 10 Russian Premier Leagues, 14 Russian Cups and 10 Russian Super Cups, as well as the 2005 UEFA Cup.
On the international stage the 34-year-olds have also excelled, winning bronze medals at Euro 2008. And though Aleksei is yet to score for Russia in his 58 caps, Vasili has hit the the net in five of his 98 appearances, most recently in the 1-1 draw against England in Marseille.
Fabio & Rafael da Silva
Full-backs Fabio and Rafael da Silva signed for Manchester United in 2007, but had to wait until their 18th birthdays before they could play for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
Though Fabio played just 22 times in the league during his five-year stint at Old Trafford, fan favourite Rafael made 169 appearances across all competitions, winning three Premier League titles, two League Cups and twice finishing runner-up in the Champions League.
Rafael now plays for Lyon but Fabio remains in the UK having recently signed for Middlesbrough. They look so alike, that Ferguson used to tell the difference by looking for Fabio’s wedding ring, after he married whilst just 18 years old.
Bobby & Jack Charlton
We’ve broken the rules on this one just a bit as Jack and Sir Bobby Charlton aren’t actually twins, but quite simply they had to feature. They are undoubtedly the best brothers to have ever represented England, having been part of the 1966 World Cup winning-squad.
The Vieira twins may be familiar with Jack, the central defender that spent his entire career at Leeds United, scoring 70 goals in 629 appearances. Though he only won the Football League First Division title once, in 1969, he was the runner-up five times during his 21 year stint at Elland Road, and also won the FA Cup in 1972.
Younger brother Bobby enjoyed more success, winning three league titles at Manchester United and the 1968 European Cup. Though he remains the Red Devils’ record scorer with 249 goals, his title with England was broken by Wayne Rooney 12 months ago.
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