The signing of Mathieu Choinière, who joined his brother David last Tuesday with the first team, is a great success story for the club and its Academy. It is rare to see two brothers play in the same league and even rarer to see them in the same club at the same time. To top it all, both have been with the Bleu-blanc-noir’s Academy since its foundation, in 2011.
They have also been part of Canada Soccer’s youth teams for many years.
The Choinière brothers representing the Montreal Impact inspired us a top 5 of brothers in MLS.
The Lalas brothers
Alexi Lalas is a colourful analyst – not only because of his red hair – on American television but was also an American soccer legend. He played 183 matches in MLS and 96 with the US Men’s National Team, being selected for two World Cups in 1994 and 1998.
What people might not know is that his younger brother, Greg Lalas, also played in MLS. His playing career was much shorter, but in 1997, the two brothers played together with the New England Revolution. Well, Greg only played six minutes in two games, but it’s still better than most of us! Greg piled up more minutes of play as Major League Soccer’s VP of content.
The Beasley brothers
The Houston Dynamo and American international left-back DaMarcus Beasley might be at the end of his playing days at 36 years old, but he had an interesting and long career that brought him from MLS to Europe, in famous clubs like PSV, Manchester City and Hannover 96, amongst others, before coming back in North America, first in Mexico, and then in Texas. He also played 126 matches with the national team.
Jamar also played a few games in MLS and it’s with the Chicago Fire, in 2001, that the two brothers played together, but the eldest Jamar was more successful playing in the Major Indoor Soccer League later on.
The Wright-Phillips brothers
Arsenal cult legend Ian Wright has two sons who are almost as successful as him. His oldest, Shaun Wright-Phillips, spent most of his career in England, playing with Manchester City from 1999 to 2005, and from 2008 to 2011. His brother Bradley also played with the Citizens between 2004 and 2006.
They shared the same dressing room years later, in MLS. Playing with the New York Red Bulls since 2013, Bradley Wright-Phillips is having the best time of his career. He scored 107 goals since he crossed the Atlantic. His older brother joined him in 2015, but played only 21 MLS games, before joining the Phoenix Rising FC in the USL.
The Roldan brothers
The Roldan family has many links to professional soccer. Christian and Alex Roldan are both playing with the Seattle Sounders FC, since Alex was picked at the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. Christian joined the club the same way, in 2015. Christian quickly became a key player for the Cascadian team, playing 106 matches in four seasons, while Alex slowly leaves his mark with the club, with 13 matches since the beginning of the 2018 season.
A third brother, Cesar, is also in MLS, with the Colorado Rapids, as an athletic trainer. José Miguel Granadino, a cousin of the brothers, also represented the Salvador national team.
The Dos Santos brothers
Giovani and Jonathan Dos Santos both started their career with FC Barcelona before playing together again at Villarreal. They now play in a third club together, LA Galaxy. Both have the Designated Player status and wear the colours of the Mexican national team.
