Gelson Fernandes' family could almost put together their own football team. The former national team player talks to blue Sport about the talent in his genes. He says: "The mothers are the stars!"
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- Former Swiss international Gelson Fernandes has several cousins who have also made it as professional footballers.
- In an interview with blue Sport, the former midfielder reveals how often the footballing cousins see each other and who is the most talented.
- Special thanks go to their mothers and aunts. Gelson: "They are actually the stars! They've done a great job."
Gelson Fernandes has had an impressive career. He played for Sion, Manchester City, Freiburg, Rennes and Frankfurt, among others, and made 67 international appearances for Switzerland. Unforgotten: His winning goal at the 2010 World Cup against the eventual world champions Spain.
But the 38-year-old, who now travels the world as Director of Development at FIFA, is not only proud of his own career. He recently posted a series of pictures on Instagram (see below) featuring eight professional footballers. "Dear aunts and mothers, I would like to congratulate you on this incredible family success," wrote Gelson.
Pictured are Edimilson Fernandes (Stade Brest, 34 caps), Ulisses Garcia (Olympique Marseille, 10 caps), Joël Monteiro (YB, 4 caps), Alvyn Sanches (Lausanne, U21 international), Elton Monteiro (Vevey), Keyan Varela (Servette U19, Portugal U19 international), Dylan Tavares (Bastia, 20 caps for Cape Verde) and Gelson himself.
The footballing family is actually even bigger. Former Basel professional Cabral (5 league titles, 4 cup wins) and 15-time Portuguese international Manuel Fernandes are also cousins of the former midfielder.
"Our mothers are the stars"
blue Sport wants to know from Gelson whether the footballers are actually all related. "They're all my first or second cousins. Except for the Monteiros. We've known each other since we were little kids, we grew up together and that's why we see them as family members," Fernandes explains with a smile.
All the footballers know each other well because they all come from the same place on the Cape Verde Islands: Assomada. However, it is difficult for them all to get together. "One plays in Brest, the other in Marseille. One in Lausanne, one in Bern ... It's difficult, but the mothers often get together," explains Gelson and enthuses: "Our mothers are actually the stars! We should write about them, they've done a great job."
How is it that one family can produce so many top footballers? "It's very special. We all come from the same small island, which doesn't have many inhabitants. Many emigrated in the 90s, but the families stayed together. First we went to Portugal, then to Switzerland," says the former national team player. "We were all able to realize our dream."
A Portuguese still has to be brought into the national team
And who in the footballing family has the greatest talent? "From a purely footballing point of view, I think Edimilson is the most talented. But Alvyn is also very good. And Keyan Varela ... he's the youngest of us," says Gelson about the Servette junior, who made his first appearance for Portugal's U19 national team in November. "Keyan's mother went to Portugal, that's why he has a Portuguese passport. But he has to play for Switzerland!"
As a member of a large footballing family, there is only one disadvantage: everyone is never on vacation at the same time - so there will be no big get-together of all the footballing cousins at Christmas this year.
Gelson: "Edimilson and Ulisses still have games, Alvyn is on vacation and I'm going away soon too. But the Monteiros will be meeting up with my family in Cape Verde. And Edimilson will also be joining them."
