The former Lazio player: “I’ve been playing in Malta for three years. Nobody wanted me in Italy anymore. When I arrived in Italy, I was abandoned at the station. They spread false rumors and photo montages: I was blackmailed.”

His politeness is striking. The gentle way he opens the door to his world to give you a glimpse of his life. Joseph Minala, 29 – “and this is proven by the tests I was forced to take, as well as the documents…” – responds from Marsa Scirocco, in the south of Malta, the island where he has been playing for three years: “I moved to Marsaxlokk and I’m enjoying myself. Nobody wanted me in Italy anymore.” This was due to a controversy over his age that erupted when he was playing for Lazio. At the time, he was 17 and dreaming of Serie A. All this after a troubled history marked by lonely journeys, false promises, and scattered disappointments.

Joseph, if you close your eyes, where do you see yourself?

“In Cameroon, in Yaoundé, with ten brothers and one sister. Like the movie ‘The Wild Bunch’. My mother was a merchant, my father a carpenter. He died in 2017, and I miss him every day.”

 How did you come to Italy?

“Someone noticed me at a tournament and promised me an audition. I was 15, it was a dream come true. My parents did everything they could to pay for my ticket. I left Cameroon, then went to Libya and arrived at Fiumicino. From there, I took a train to Termini station in Rome. That person had given me a phone number to call as soon as I arrived. I never saw or heard from him again.“

Does it still hurt to talk about it?

”Yes. I stayed at the station alone for hours. I was hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and didn’t have a penny. I quickly realized it was a scam, so I went to the police to explain everything. They explained that the phone had no SIM card. Having never owned a cell phone, I couldn’t have known that.“

What did the police do?

”They took me to the hospital for tests. On the way, I thought, ‘That’s it, now I’m going home.’ But no. They took me to a foster home in Torre Spaccata.”

 How long did it take you to call home?

“After a month. In the meantime, people took care of me and introduced me to life. I learned how to make pizzas, clean, and tend the garden. They paid me about twenty euros per job. Just enough to be able to tell my parents that I was fine. A social worker asked me what I wanted to do, and I replied, ‘I want to be a soccer player.’ So I started at Città dei Ragazzi in the provincial league.“

From then on, I had several trials.

”Udinese, Inter, Milan, Roma, and finally Napoli, where I stayed for almost a year. It all came about thanks to Vincenzo Raiola, brother of Mino, the agent who was looking after me at the time. I found myself training alongside Cavani and Hamsik, with Mazzarri as coach, traveling back and forth from Rome. The foster home let me go from Monday to Thursday, then I had to return.”

So how did Lazio come into the picture?

“Vigor Perconti took me from Città dei Ragazzi. I played there for a few months, then Roma and Lazio came looking for me. I chose the Biancocelesti thanks to Onazi’s pressure on Facebook. I remember my first training session in Rivisondoli, Abruzzo, with Bollini as coach. It was the summer of 2013. After a couple of hours, he called Tare and told him to sign me. Me, Lombardi, Keita, Tounkara, Murgia, Strakosha. The strongest Primavera team Lazio had ever seen.”

In April 2014, Reja gave him his Serie A debut at the age of 17 against Sampdoria. The first of three appearances.

“A gift from God. The dream before the nightmare.”

Are you referring to the controversy surrounding your age?

“They slaughtered me, destroyed me, humiliated me. The funny thing is that I wasn’t unknown. I dominated the Primavera championship. Three days after my debut, I won the Coppa Italia in that category, scoring a goal in the final against Fiorentina. A few months earlier, I had won the regional tournament in Sardinia. It was a targeted attack, but I have my own idea.“

Which is?

”The rumor was spread by someone who used to care about me, who followed me. In Senegal, a website that was later shut down invented the news that I was 42 years old. People started making photomontages and making fun of me. No one knows this, but during that period I was also threatened and blackmailed by people who had helped me, whom I trusted. I was alone and defenseless, no one protected me.“

  What did the age tests show?

”That I was born in 1996. In fact, they confirmed that I look even a year younger. Do you know how many times I’ve heard people say, ‘He’s 40, how can he play? Eighty percent of people judged me wrongly. I’m no phenomenon, but when I was given a chance, I always proved my worth. I think of Bari, but above all Salernitana, where the fans still write to me about the last-minute goal against Avellino.”

Did Lazio disappoint you?

“I deserved a chance, especially in 2019-20. I only played in the Coppa Italia, at 4-0. I was out of the squad, then I was reinstated. I was a little disappointed, I could have played at least 5 minutes per game. I lost a good chunk of my career.“ 

Be honest: do you think you deserve at least Serie B today?

”In my opinion, yes. I play in Malta, which is a peripheral league, but I haven’t lost hope of returning to Italy. I was devalued for something that never existed. I was a teenager like many others, but people didn’t believe that. This unjustified persecution ruined me.“

Where do you see yourself in the future?

”Maybe on the bench, as a coach. I dream of returning to Lazio or Salernitana. I’m not a bad person. I’m 29 years old and I was born on August 24, 1996: why doesn’t anyone believe that?”