The crazy story of ex-Unionist Sanharib Malki: “I ultimately didn’t play with the Devils even though I was the top scorer in Belgium…”

This unusual story will lead Malki to Union Saint-Gilloise, of which he was recently the representative in the ‘Hall of Fame’ of the Pro League, but also to Belgian division 1 before several experiences abroad. “It’s a truly unusual story.”breathes the one who completely changed his life by launching ‘Maria Malki Cosmetics’, a cosmetics brand with his wife and ‘Leo Moon Gems’ where he sells precious stones and crystals. A story that he agreed to tell, with humility and pride.

Sanharib, what would you have done if football had not come into your life?

“I was quite good at school and especially in mathematics so I could have become an accountant. When football became more and more serious, my academic results plummeted a bit. With my sister, we found schemes to not having to show my report cards to my parents (smile). I knew I was going to make it in football, I wasn’t the most talented but I had this hard-working mentality. When my mother told me that I had to put my energy into my studies, I tried to convince her that football was going to be my life.”

How did your transition from P2 to D3 go by signing for the Union at the age of 18?

“Everything wasn’t easy: I flew in the air during my first duel in training, I quickly understood that I was arriving in a completely different world… I remember my very first match with the Union, in the Belgian Cup: there was such a mass of supporters that it gave me chills, I was not at all used to that in the second provincial. And I scored three goals that day. -there (smile). I was a bit of a crowd favorite because I was a young guy from Brussels who had a little something in front of the opposing goal.”

What kind of club was the Union at that time?

“It was a family club with an incredible atmosphere in the team. I remember in 2004, both fans and journalists thought that Union was going to go down… but we ended up being champions at the end of the season. After each match, we went for a drink among ourselves and went out with the supporters who were almost part of the family. During a trip to Bocholt, which was one of our big competitors for the title, we snatched a draw. and we started dancing to the tables in their refreshment bar after the match. The opponents were wondering what was going on. (smile). We had no limits but it was this team spirit that allowed us to succeed.”

From Union, you move to Roeselare: what memories do you have of your first stint in D1, in 2005?

“I had received an offer from Brussels and another from Roeselare, I chose the second. This allowed me to play in the UEFA Cup qualifiers because Roeselare had received a ticket as the team having taken the least boxes over the season I remember traveling to Macedonia to face Skopje, I was struck by the poverty in the streets we saw children picking up trash just before returning to our beautiful hotel… We did well. party after the match, it was the first match won by the club in Europe.”

Many know you above all for having worn the Beerschot jersey where you played 77 matches.

“The beginnings were not easy because I was blocked by Jurgen Cavens and above all François Sterchele who was a real racy scorer. In fact, I was never number one but I always got by… Sterchele was a guy full of joie de vivre who was always making jokes, the real clown of the team. For example, he could put heating cream in the underwear or socks of teammates or arrive in the locker room dressed in the mascot’s clothes. I was shocked by his death, the images of his burial at the church are still in my mind. Belgian football had lost a great talent because his career was on the rise.”

You were also second top scorer in the Pro League behind Joseph Akpala during the 2007-2008 season: why have you never played for a top Belgian club?

“I should have been joint top scorer if VAR already existed because I had two valid goals canceled that season (laughs). I would have liked to have the chance to play for a top Belgian club but everything is not always in the hands of the player… After the death of Sterchele, Bruges was looking for a striker and it came down to Akpala and me. Aimé Antheunis, who was the general director of Beerschot, told me: “Call the manager Luc Devroe and he will take you to Bruges!” I never called him because I thought my agent was going to do it and the Club finally chose Akpala… It remains a regret because it would have been great to play in the Champions League coming from the second provincial.”

Is the fact of not having worn the Red Devils jersey also a regret?

“Yes and no. I took part in an internship with Jean-François de Sart’s Diablotins just before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. The team was impressive with Kompany, Witsel and even Fellaini. I was made noticed positively but Vandereycken ultimately didn’t take me back a few weeks later with the A team to face Italy when I was the top scorer in Belgium… I thought about it again recently when the Devils played against Italy It’s a regret but at the same time I didn’t have the level of a Lukaku or a Hazard.”

Instead, you wore the Syrian national team jersey 29 times: what are your memories of this period?

“It was complicated in terms of organization because we could not play our home matches in Syria because of the war. We therefore had to welcome the opponents in Iran or Malaysia by flying fifteen hours… for a match at home I remember training on lousy pitches where the ball didn’t move and where it was easy to get injured. We sometimes had to warm up by running around a swimming pool, a parking lot or simply in the field. street Even if the level of professionalism. wasn’t always present, it still allowed me to participate in the Asian Cup and in qualifying for the World Cup.”

Did you have any feedback on the situation on site?

“The players playing in the Syrian championship arrived traumatized for the selection. You could see that they were not well, they were constantly looking at their phones to make sure that their families were safe, the tension was at its peak. A teammate once explained to me that a missile had fallen right next to his team bus. Another day, we were at lunch and a spoon fell to the ground: when the noise resonated, several players were caught. head in hands while going hiding under the table thinking it was a bomb…”

What is the current situation in Syria?

“President Bashar Al-Assad left seeing that he no longer had the support of the people. The country is now defenseless, there is no longer any military infrastructure. There should be a new government, we Let’s see what happens. I spoke to my family there and everyone is afraid that the regime will become very Islamist. We pray that the country will recover quickly. The most important thing is to see who will come to power. , the fall of Al-Assad may as well be positive rather than negative. If it is a puppet who will be there to take the money without protecting the people, it will have been useless. The family on site explains to me that everything has become very expensive, inflation is. incredible since the start of the war Living conditions remain complicated with difficulty accessing water and the internet cutting out very often.