Three players at this World Cup - Vladimir Weiss, Michael Bradley and Sergio Aguero - could be accused of owing their involvement in the tournament to nepotism. At least, they could if they were not so good. There have not been too many examples of players having to call their father "Boss" in the history of the World Cup, only six in fact. But those who have excelled, whether it be because they have something extra to prove, tend to either have an innate understanding of what the coach wants, or because they inherited the football gene.
Slovakia's tricky winger is the third generation of Vladimir Weisses to play first-class football, and his father is the current coach of the national team. It is hard to accuse Weiss II of favouritism. His son has proved to be Slovakia's most potent creative force during their disappointing maiden World Cup. Manchester City, his parent club, have high hopes for him, even though he spent much of the last Premier League season out on loan at Bolton Wanderers.
The midfielder has earned all 45 of his national team caps in the four years that father Bob has been the United States coach. On the evidence of this World Cup, however, he has sleight of foot and an indefatigable engine to thank for it, rather than nepotism. Alongside Landon Donovan, Bradley Jr, who scored his side's equaliser against Slovenia in the 2-2 draw on Friday, makes the impressive US team tick.
The Tottenham midfielder was handed his international debut by Zlatko, his father, in 2004, and played for them at the World Cup in Germany four years ago. It just so happened that Zlatko, who is now manager of Montenegro, was in situ at the time, however. Niko had long been earmarked for a place in the national team. His father may have moved on, but the younger Kranjcar is still a fixture in Croatia's side.
When Mirko Vucinic, a striker, lost his place at the 2006 competition due to a knee injury, Ilija Petkovic, the team coach, knew exactly where to look for a last-minute replacement. A call to son Dusan made perfect sense to him. However, elsewhere it was deemed a major surprise. He was a centre-back, so hardly a like-for-like locum for Vucinic, and had not featured in the side during qualification.
This was hardly a case of the son getting the nod because of his father's position. If anything, it worked the other way around. Maldini was already eight years into one of international football's greatest ever careers when Cesare, his father, was handed the Azzurri reins. He lost the job after the 1998 World Cup, but Paolo carried on regardless to earn 126 caps.
Viera had only just turned 20 years of age when Ondino, his father, presented him with a place in Uruguay's tour party for the 1966 World Cup in England. The nation who won the very first World Cup had long been on the wane, and neither the son nor his father could do much to arrest the slide.
Benjamin Aguero is only one-and-a-half years old, but his future in football is likely to be followed keenly, given the stuff floating around his gene pool. Sergio, his father, is a forward for Atletico Madrid who made Argentina's squad for this year's World Cup after being given the nod by Benjamin's grandfather, Diego Maradona. Aguero, whose wife is Giannina Maradona - Maradona's daughter - is struggling to make the first team, however, due to Argentina's extra-ordinary attacking riches, that include Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain.
pradley@thenational.ae