André Schembri

André Schembri
Personal information
Full name André Schembri
Date of birth (1986-05-27) 27 May 1986
Place of birth Floriana, Malta
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Apollon Limassol
Number 30
Youth career
Floriana
Hibernians
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Hibernians 44 (10)
2005–2009 Marsaxlokk 51 (24)
2007–2008 → Eintracht Braunschweig (loan) 29 (9)
2008–2009 → Carl Zeiss Jena (loan) 32 (4)
2009–2010 Austria Kärnten 13 (1)
2010–2011 Ferencváros 36 (16)
2011–2012 Panionios 21 (4)
2012–2014 AC Omonia 58 (23)
2014 FSV Frankfurt 9 (0)
2014–2016 AC Omonia 45 (19)
2016–2017 Boavista 30 (3)
2017– Apollon Limassol 28 (5)
National team‡
2004–2006 Malta U21 13 (4)
2006– Malta 84 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 June 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 October 2017

André Schembri (born 27 May 1986) is a Maltese footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder who plays for Apollon Limassol and the Maltese national team. André is the son of Eric Schembri and grandson of Salvinu Schembri.

Playing career

Hibernians

Schembri began his playing career as a trainee with Hibernians and made his debut during the 2002–03 season, where he made a total of seven appearances, but failed to score during the season, helping Hibernians to a fourth-place finish.

The following season, Schembri established himself as a first-team regular making 26 appearances and scoring five goals, with Hibernians finishing one place higher than the previous season, in third place.

With Schembri putting in some very impressive performances he began the 2004–05 season by the Christmas period he was signed by fellow Maltese Premier League team Marsaxlokk, with Schembri making eleven appearances and scoring five goals during the half-season with Hibernians.

During his time with the Paolite club, Schembri made 44 appearances and scored ten goals.

Marsaxlokk

Marsaxlokk signed Schembri during the January transfer window of 2005, along with another young Maltese player, Cleavon Frendo from Pietà Hotspurs. Schembri finished the 2004–05 making eight appearances for Marsaxlokk, scoring twice, with the club recording a fifth-place finish.

In his first full season with Marsaxlokk, Schembri recorded 24 appearances and scored 11 goals with the club finishing in fourth place in the Premier League, with Schembri gaining his first cap for Malta's senior side.

The 2006–07 season was to be his best season on both personal and club-level, as besides scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances, Marsaxlokk won their first ever league title, gaining his first honour in Maltese football.

Eintracht Braunschweig

Following a great season with Marsaxlokk, Schembri became the centre of interest from European teams and eventually joined Regionalliga Nord side Eintracht Braunschweig on a season-long loan.

During his season with the German side, André made 29 appearances and scored nine goals, and finished off another impressive season, with the club qualifying for the new 3. Fußball-Liga, and finishing joint third in the club's top goal scoring charts.

Carl Zeiss Jena

On 30 June 2008, it was revealed that after spending last season with Eintracht Braunschweig, Schembri would be joining Carl Zeiss Jena on a further season-long loan deal.

Schembri made his debut for Carl Zeiss Jena on 26 July 2008 in the league match against Jahn Regensburg, Schembri was introduced late on in the second half as an 84th-minute substitute for Salvatore Amirante. The game finished in a 2–2 draw.[1]

Schembri scored his first goal for Carl Zeiss Jena on 13 December 2008, scoring the opener in a 2–0 against Sandhausen.[2] On 9 August 2008, he scored the first goal in a 2–1 over Kaiserslautern in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.[3] He followed this with another goal in the third round, this time in the 4–1 defeat to Bundesliga side Schalke on 27 January 2009.[4]

He ended his second season in Germany by making 32 appearances and scoring four goals, as Carl Zeiss Jena finished in a disappointing 16th place, narrowly missing out on back-to-back relegations.

SK Austria Kärnten

On 19 June 2009, Schembri signed a two-year contract with Austrian Football Bundesliga side SK Austria Kärnten.[5] He made his debut in the 1–3 defeat to Wiener Neustadt on 17 July 2009, and scored his first goal in the 2–3 away defeat against Kapfenberger SV on 26 July 2009.

Ferencváros

André Schembri in action for Ferencváros

On 15 February 2010, Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Ferencváros unveiled Schembri as the club's latest signing.[6] Schembri became the club's second Maltese signing in quick succession after compatriot Justin Haber joined the club from Sheffield United. After a difficult start to his time in Hungary, in the 2010–11 season he came into the fore as one of the most important players for Fradi. On 26 September 2010, he scored a hat-trick against Vasas in the 3–1, therefore becoming the first Maltese footballer to score a hat-trick in a foreign top-tier league.[7] Two months later, on 20 November 2010, he netted another hat-trick against Lombard-Pápa in the 5–0 away win.[8] He ended the season as second-highest goal scorer in the league behind Andre Alves with 16 goals, as Ferencváros finished third gaining a place in the first qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Schembri did however finish top scorer of Ferencvaros during that season.

Olympiakos Volou

After his contract with Ferencváros expired at the end of the season, in July 2011, Schembri joined Olympiakos Volos in the Superleague Greece. He made his debut for the club on 14 July 2011 as a substitute against Rad in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. He scored his first goal in this competition, netting the opener in the 3–0 away win against Differdange on 28 July 2011. Due to the ongoing match fixing scandal involving the club, UEFA excluded the club from any European competition.[9] On 23 August 2011, Olympiakos Volu were relegated to the fourth-tier of Greek football, the Delta Ethniki, along with Kavala.

Panionios

Following the release from his contract, Schembri joined another Greek Super League side, Panionios on 30 September 2011.[10] He ended his contract with 5 league goals to his name.

AC Omonia

On 20 August 2012, Schembri joined AC Omonia. He scored his first goal for Omonia on 28 October 2012. In total he scored 17 goals that season ending top-scorer of the club.

FSV Frankfurt

On 28 May 2014, Andre Schembri decided to part ways with Omonia and join FSV Frankfurt.[11] He scored his first goal coming as a substitute in the 61st minute for FSV Frankfurt during the DFB Pokal against Hoffenheim which ended in a loss for FSV Frankfurt by 5–1.

Return to Omonia

On 5 December 2014 it was announced that Schembri agreed to rejoin AC Omonia following his spell with the German side.

Boavista

In June 2016 Schembri moved to the Primeira Liga club Boavista and signed a two-year deal with the Portuguese team.[12]

Apollon

On 12 June 2017 Schembri terminated the contract with Primeira Liga club Boavista due to personal reasons, and signed a two-year deal with Cypriot outfit Apollon Limassol. On 9 August 2017 he scored the winner in a 2–1 victory against rivals APOEL FC to lift the Cypriot Super Cup. He scored 4 goals from 6 appearances in the Europa League qualifiers, including the all important away equalizer against FC Midtjylland in the play off round which saw Apollon win on a 4–3 aggregate and proceed to the group stages. By doing so he also became only the second Maltese player to feature in the UEFA Europa League after Luke Dimech.[13] He also became the first Maltese to score in the proper rounds of a UEFA competition after scoring the equalizer against Atalanta in an eventual 3–1 defeat.[14]

International career

Schembri gained his first cap for the Maltese national team in a friendly on 4 June 2006, a 1–0 away defeat to Japan.

Schembri scored his first and second international goals in the 2–1 home win over Hungary on 11 October 2006 in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match, which ended Malta's 13-year wait for a competitive victory.

He scored his third goal for Malta in the same qualifying phase, giving Malta a temporary 2–1 lead over Turkey, although the match finished in a 2–2 draw.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
111 October 2006Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Hungary1–02-1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
211 October 2006Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Hungary2–12-1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
38 September 2007Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Turkey2–12-2UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Honours

Club

Marsaxlokk

Apollon Limassol

National

  • Malta Sportsman of the Year: 2009–10

Personal life

André Schembri is the son of former Gżira United and Malta international striker Eric Schembri, and the grandson of former Sliema Wanderers and Malta international midfielder Salvinu Schembri.

References

  1. ↑ "Jahn Regensburg - Carl Zeiss Jena 2:2 (0:1)" (in German). Kicker. 26 July 2008.
  2. ↑ "Carl Zeiss Jena - SV Sandhausen 2:0 (0:0)" (in German). Kicker. 13 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Carl Zeiss Jena - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1 (0:0)" (in German). Kicker. 9 August 2008.
  4. ↑ "Carl Zeiss Jena - FC Schalke 04 1:4 (0:1)" (in German). Kicker. 29 January 2009.
  5. ↑ "Football : Andre Schembri Joins SK Austria Karnten". The Malta Independent. 21 June 2009.
  6. ↑ "Ferencváros sign Andre Schembri". MaltaFootball.com. 15 February 2010.
  7. ↑ "Hard work paying off for Schembri". Times of Malta. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  8. ↑ Busuttil, Antoine (21 November 2010). "Andre Schembri hat-trick hero for Ferencváros". MaltaFootball.com.
  9. ↑ "Olympiacos Volou excluded from Europa League". UEFA. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "Schembri joins Panionios". Times of Malta. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Andre Schembri to join FSV Frankfurt". MaltaFootball.com. 18 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "André Schembri assina por duas épocas" [André Schembri signs for two seasons] (in Portuguese). A Bola. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Watch: Andre Schembri's goal against FC Midtyjlland". Times of Malta. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Updated - Watch: Schembri becomes first Maltese player to score in Europa League, does not celebrate". The Malta Independent. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
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