Schembri, a multi-faceted man from Malta

An ardent follower of the game would have regularly watched forward Andre Schembri take control of the final third of the football pitch. But that’s just one side of the multi-faceted individual from Malta, who is currently with Indian Super League (ISL) side Chennaiyin FC. Schembri has a brilliant command of six different languages, performing the juggling act not just on the field but also off it. “I speak Maltese, English, Italian, German, Portuguese and Greek. You can now add Tamil as well, I do know Nandri (laughs),” revealed Schembri, who greeted us in his mother tongue.

With CFC having representatives from eight different nations (India, Romania, Brazil, Afghanistan, Lithuania, Malta, England and Cyprus), the polyglot has jumped straight into action. “I keep changing all the time. When I talk with Eli Sabia, I speak Portuguese. With Masih Saighani, I converse in German because he was brought up there (in Germany). When I forget a word in Portuguese, Italian comes to my rescue (laughs). I chat in Greek sometimes with our assistant coach Konstantinos Rostantis. I have discussions with the gaffer John Gregory in English. It is obviously Maltese with my wife,” being Schembri isn’t easy.      

Apart from making fans rejoice with his searing strikes, the former Maltese skipper also brings smiles on the faces of psychologically unwell kids back home. Schembri is one of the ambassadors of Dr Klown, a non-profit organisation. Talking about his association with it, “My best friend was in it already and inspired me to join. I always wanted to be a part of this. It is something that I am proud of. Being a famous player in Malta, I knew I could promote it much more than the others. In fact, the proceedings of my autobiography (Andre Schembri — 10 snin nilgħab fl-Ewropa) went to the organisation.”

Dr Klown, which is currently based at the Mater Dei Hospital, provides clown doctor services, using humour to improve the situation of the kids. “People are trained to make children laugh. Whenever I go home,I visit the hospital. It is a service and I just try to help as much as I can,” he added. Hailing from a tiny country, which has a population of about 450,000, adapting to life in a humongous city — Chennai — would have been a tough task.

But, Schembri, pursuing Sports Science and Football Coaching degree at Doncaster University, seems to be settling in quite well, taking away some important lessons which will be of use on the pitch.

“I knew I was going to find one thing mainly — traffic. When I experienced it, I learned something. I have been in India for around two months and I haven’t witnessed an accident. I am amazed by it. Yes, there are a lot of chaos. But for me, driving here is a skill. When you acquire skill in a chaotic environment, you are getting better. That is what I am trying to apply in football as well,” he signed off.