Malta Captain Andre Schembri Lifts Lid On Toxic Rivalry With Michael Mifsud In Gossip-Packed Autobiography
Malta national football captain Andre Schembri has pinned partial blame for the team’s poor performances on the pitch on his animosity with fellow striker Michael Mifsud.
In his new autobiography, Schembri said his relationship with Mifsud started deteriorating after Malta’s famous 2-1 victory over Hungary in 2006 in which Schembri scored twice.
“After the game, Michael told me jokingly that he must be careful I don’t overtake him in goals,” he said. “However, during the 2010 World Cup qualification competition, Michael and I used to argue a lot and we rarely even passed the ball to each other. This strife between us emerged in the fact that Malta didn’t even score a single goal in that competition.”
Schembri said he tried to start a fresh page with Mifsud for the good of the team after Pietro Ghedin was appointed Malta manager in 2012. While the situation improved overall, things didn’t quite go according to plan.
“When we played away to Croatia in 2012, Steve Borg was sent off and Ghedin was forced to substitute a striker for another defender,” Schembri recounted. “He decided to take off Michael, which means he had to pass me the captain’s armband. However, instead of placing it around my arm, he threw the armband in my face from close range.”
“I wanted Michael to look at me more as a teammate than as a rival, because I believe we would have achieved better results if this was the case. Despite all of this, I still consider Michael to be an icon of Maltese football renowned for his unique speed.”
Michael Mifsud (left) with former Malta coach John Buttigieg. Photo: Times of Malta
Schembri’s criticism of past Malta coaches
Former Malta manager Pietro Ghedin
In his autobiography, Schembri spares no punches in his criticism of two former Malta coaches – John Buttigieg and Pietro Ghedin.
Schembri said Buttigieg appeared completely disinterested in him, solely communicating with him via email to ask him how many minutes he had played with his club.
“I still cannot fathom how a national team coach didn’t take an interest in his own players, particularly those who play overseas,” he said.
As for the much-maligned Ghedin, Schembri said the coach’s training sessions were so boring that he used to dread flying down to Malta for them.
“In my opinion, he never evolved as a coach since the 1990s,” he said. “He often used to just train the defenders and leave the rest of us just staring blankly at them. He created an environment where everyone could just do as they please, and this reflected itself in our performances and results.”
Pranks in the Maltese dressing room
Schembri also revealed two great pranks he was involved in – one as the joker and one as the butt of the joke.
To pull goalkeeper Justin Haber’s leg, Schembri and Andrew Cohen once agreed that Cohen should hide in a hotel wardrobe and listen in as Schembri told Haber how pleased Cohen was whenever he [Haber] was left out of the team.
“Justin seized the moment and let everything he had against Cohen off his chest. Cohen then emerged from the wardrobe and Justin got such a fright that he fell down on the floor.”
Another time, the Malta team was on a plane and Schembri kicked off his shoes. Cohen nicked one of them, forcing Schembri to walk all the way to the luggage claim with just one shoe.
“Cohen didn’t want to risk me knowing that he was behind the prank, so he discreetly took my shoe out of his bag and placed it on the luggage tray,” he said. “I have no words to describe the anger I felt when I saw the other players and passengers looking at me and laughing.”
Andre Schembri’s autobiography, published by Kite Group, will be launched on 7th June at a book-signing session at the Ta’ Qali Trophies Lounge. It costs €30 and signed copies can be pre-ordered online from here.
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