Maltese Footballers Are ‘Mummy’s Boys’
Former national football team goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin has called for more sacrifices by Maltese football players and described them as “mummy’s boys”, as the controversy about the state of the game in Malta rages on.
“Our boys are too spoiled, we call them mummy’s boys. They find it difficult to go abroad, because the whole family has to go abroad with them and they’re not ready to make that step,” he told TVM news.
In the same news clip, Malta Football Association President Norman Darmanin Demajo said around 25 footballers were given placements abroad but the majority turned down the offers for various reasons.
He added that André Schembri was right when he said recently that the Maltese national team will keep losing games for another 20 years.
“We can’t get better if we remain amateurs, playing in amateur leagues. Players can’t do a full day of work, go to training at 6pm and play against professionals.”
Mr Darmanin Demajo also dismissed as “speculation” the idea that Mr Schembri was not played as captain in yesterday’s game against Lithuania as payback for his scathing remarks made after the England match last week.
A petition launched last night entitled #SchembriMyCaptain has garnered hundreds of signatures.
Mr Schembri’s comments to L-Argument on ONE have been viewed more than 100,000 times on Facebook and received an overwhelming amount of support.
Mr Schembri said: “We need a whole reshuffle… in the youth system, the level of coaching… I’ve been saying this for years. You keep interviewing us but there are 10 people from the MFA (Malta Football Association) here. I think you should interview them instead… We’re so far behind. And it’s not the players fault. It’s the fault of those running Maltese football. If we don’t change, you will be here in 20 years’ time and we will be in the same situation.”