5 siblings who represented different countries in football

AS Saint-Etienne v Manchester United - UEFA Europa League Round of 32: Second Leg
Florentin and Paul Pogba

#4 Thiago Alcantara (Spain) and Rafinha Alcantara (Brazil)

Rafinha and Thiago
Rafinha and Thiago

Thiago and Rafinha both came through the Barcelona youth system making their senior debuts for the Barcelona 'B' side before breaking into the first team.

Thiago is the older of the two brothers. He established himself under Pep Guardiola at the Catalan club. He is hailed for being a brilliant creative deep-lying playmaker and is known for his technical excellence.

Thiago followed Pep out of Barca to Bayern, where he has remained since 2013 as an integral part of the first team. He represented Spain at five different youth levels and has been a Spanish international since 2011, playing 23 games for the Iberian country.

Thiago moved to Spain with his father at the age of five and has spent most of his childhood in the country and playing at the La Masia, which might explain his connection with Spain.

Rafinha followed his brother's footsteps and made his senior debut for both the B and the first team in 2011. A central midfielder like his brother but one who is more of an attacking and flair player, Rafinha impressed on loan at Celta Vigo in 2013-14 and was a part of Barca's title-winning sides in 2015-16 and 2014-15. He represented Spain in his youth career but has since played for Brazil, making two senior appearances for them.

He claimed that being born in Sao Paolo and having a father who played for the National side made his choice to play for Brazil 'the easiest decision in his life'.

Those close to the family say that the globe-trotting career of the pair's father Mazinho has largely influenced their differing decisions and loyalties in football.

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