Nagbe father and son
(USA Today Sports Images)


The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

That's absolutely the case for a large group of MLSers, who followed in their father's footsteps to become professional soccer players. In the case of Teal Bunbury (Sporting KC) and Konrad Warzycha (Columbus Crew), they actually play for the same teams that their fathers did.

This Father's Day, we celebrate the blood lines that are good enough to contribute multiple generations of players to the pro ranks:

                                       MLS PLAYERS w/ PRO SOCCER DADS

Son (in MLS) Father (countries/clubs)
Kalif Alhassan (Portland) George Alhassan (5 countries)
Carlos Alvarez (Chivas USA) Crecencio Alvarez (Chivas Guadalajara-MEX)
Mehdi Ballouchy (San Jose) Driss Ballouchy (Lille-FRA)
Edson Buddle (Colorado) Winston Buddle (Seba United-JAM)
Teal Bunbury (Sporting KC) Alex Bunbury (Canada, England, Portugal, MLS)
Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas) Kenny Cooper, Sr. (Dallas Tornado-USA)
Carlo Cudicini (LA Galaxy) Fabio Cudicini (5 clubs in Italy, incl. AC Milan)
Nick DeLeon (D.C. United) Leroy DeLeon (7 clubs in USA)
Lalo Fernandez (RSL) Eduardo Fernandez (9 clubs in Mexico)
Boniek García (Houston) Oscar García (Olimpia-HON)
Federico Higuaín (Columbus) Jorge Higuaín (6 clubs in Argentina, Brest-FRA)
Dejan Jakovic (D.C. United) Nenad Jakovic (Karlovac-CRO)
Darlington Nagbe (Portland) Joe Nagbe (Liberia, Cameroon, France, Greece)
Michael Nanchoff (Portland) George Nanchoff (Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta-NASL)
Dillon Powers (Colorado) Mike Powers (Dallas Sidekicks-USA)
Sebastián Rincón (Portland) Freddy Rincón (Colombia, Brazil, Italy, Spain)
Carlos Salcedo (RSL) Carlos Joel Salcedo (Atlas-MEX)
Yann Songo'o (Sporting KC) Jacques Songo'o (Spain, France)
Jose Valencia (Portland) Adolfo Valencia (8 countries)
Konrad Warzycha (Columbus) Robert Warzycha (Poland, England, Hungary, MLS)
Chris Wingert (RSL) Norm Wingert (Philadelphia Atoms, NY Apollo)
Eriq Zavaleta (Seattle) Carlos Zavaleta (El Salvador)