Joseph Minala, the former wonderkid accused of being over 40 during the early days of his career, remains one of football’s most bizarre and tragic tales.
Minala’s name will be memorable to many for all the wrong reasons. Just over a decade ago, he made the headlines after signing for Lazio at the age of 17.
However, an African football website then immediately claimed the Cameroon-born player was pretending to be 17 and that he had altered his passport to take a full 25 years off his actual birth date, which would have made him 42.
This led to a probe which saw him questioned by the league’s federal prosecutor.
Both Lazio and Minala’s agent were forced to rubbish the allegations, producing the necessary paperwork to prove once and for all that he had been a teenager.
Former Lazio star Joseph Minala was accused of being 42 during the early days of his career
Minala was forced to provide documents to prove to the authorities that he was actually 17
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After being cleared of any wrongdoing, Minala continued his career in 2014. He was unable to break through at Lazio after making just a handful of appearances, though.
Minala was then loaned out to several Serie B clubs, including Bari and Latina, and spent three successive seasons with Salernitana. But despite him playing 67 times, they opted not to turn his deal permanent and sent him back to his parent side.
The player moved to Qingdao Huangahi in the Chinese Super League on loan in 2020 and went on to play just 15 times during a largely forgettable campaign.
After he returned to Lazio, his contract ran out at the end of the 2020-21 season.
He went on to sign a one-year deal at Lucchese in Serie C but after making 20 appearances moved on once again, leaving his career in limbo at the age of 26.
One last dance in Italy with Olbia proved equally frustrating for Minala, who was released by mutual consent and then briefly joined Liepaja in Latvia.
After struggling to break through into Lazio’s first-team, he moved on to a wide range of clubs
Minala (right) played in China for a brief spell and is now on the books at Sliema Wanderers
In 2023, Minala signed for Sliema Wanderers, the most successful team in Malta.
In a statement, the club said: ‘We are delighted to announce the exciting addition of Cameroonian defensive midfielder, Joseph Minala to our team.
‘Having already played for some top-level clubs throughout his career including Lazio, Bari and Salernitana, Joseph will bring a wealth of talent and experience.’
On Thursday night, Minala started as Silema were thrashed 7-0 away by Armenian side Noah in the first leg of their Europa Conference League second qualifying round tie.
Minala was substituted at half time, by which point Silema were already three goals down after Virgile Pinson’s effort was followed by two strikes from Goncalo Grigorio.
Grigorio added another goal to complete his hat-trick, with Eraldo Cinari then inflicting further damage.
An own goal from Gustavo followed, with Helder Ferreira then rounding off the scoring.
Minala has played 25 times for Silema so far and has scored four goals.
Minala featured as Silema were thrashed 7-0 by Noah in Europa Conference League qualifying
Minala has previously addressed the now infamous controversy over his age and believes that the matter impacted on his career during his time with Lazio.
‘I was very young and I couldn’t know or predict the resonance this would have,’ he said. ‘I’m very convinced that the age story has always held back my career.
‘Did I expect more? Definitely. Every time I went out on loan I always had good seasons, but I never had the same chances as others at Lazio.’