TAMPA, Fla. (May 22, 2017) -- While any team’s roster carries its fair share of interesting storylines and player backgrounds, this year’s Rowdies U23 PDL team, quite literally, has a familial connection to its parent club, the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Gabriel and Gustavo Fernandes, identical twins and younger brothers of Rowdies midfielder Leo Fernandes, are joining the U23s for the summer. Both Gabriel and Gustavo have admired their older brother for a long time and regard him as the driving force for their decision to come from thousands of miles away to play in Tampa Bay for the summer.

“I thought it was a great opportunity,” Gabriel said. “To stay with Leo and be with my brothers over summer while playing every day is incredible.”

Beyond just enjoying time spent together, both twins look up to Leo as an inspiration. Gustavo explains, “It’s a great feeling [to watch] Leo play…ever since he was at [Philadelphia Union] I’d go to his games and love it.”

"My brothers have always supported me in every phase of my career," said Rowdies midfielder Leo Fernandes. "To have them close by gives me the opportunity to spend more time with them and also help them as they continue to grow in their soccer career."

In many ways, Gabriel has taken much of what Leo has done in his career and applied it to his own game. In addition to sharing the same position of center midfielder, Gabriel also followed in his older brother’s footsteps by playing at Stony Brook University where Leo played from 2009 to 2012, earning a bevy of awards and notching 31 goals in 74 games.

Though he was redshirted this season, Gabriel intends to carry on his brother’s legacy at the school in coming seasons. Although Gabriel has emulated Leo in a variety of ways, he lends much of his playing style to FC Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets, who he praises greatly for his very “quick and direct” style of play.

On the other hand, Gustavo has taken a slightly different path in his career. Where Gabriel has followed much of what Leo has done, Gustavo has taken after his other older brother Kaique. Though he and Gabriel have played together almost their entire lives, Gustavo decided to play his college ball at Iowa Western. While Gabriel went to Leo’s alma mater, Gustavo followed Kaique who served as team captain at Iowa Western before transferring to Wright State.

Furthermore, Gustavo plays center back just as Kaique does in college. In terms of his style of play, Gustavo says that he takes after the likes of PSG’s Thiago Silva and Chelsea’s David Luiz as a result of their leadership qualities and “the way they play every game with their heart.”

Speaking about each other, Gabriel and Gustavo are extremely excited about the summer family reunion on the U23 team. When asked about playing with his twin brother again Gustavo said, “It’s good because we went our separate ways for the college level and just to get back on the field with him is great I like it a lot.” Gabriel explained as well that it’s “exciting…because we played together at the club level [for years and] to be back with him [over summer] is so fun.”

The Fernandes’ could make their competitive debut this Saturday when the Rowdies U23s open their season on the road against Weston FC.