Jean Claude Micallef has told Ben Camille that practising the sport of athletics during his younger years has been very important in his development as a person.
Speaking during this week’s edition of GAMEON, Micallef, who is a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party, said sport has helped him to gain self-confidence in his ability and also the ability to communicate better with other persons.
“When I was young, athletics was an integral part of my life,” Micallef, a former national champion in high jump, said.
“I started practising the sport at the age of 12. It was Mark Farrugia who discovered my talents at Starmax Club. Then I joined Aloysians and all my life moved around athletics, attending training sessions every day.
“As a youngster, I had a lot of insecurities that kept me away from performing at the best of my ability. The high jump is a sports discipline that builds you both from an individual point of view but also mentally.
“Sport has changed me as a person. I became a more assertive and confident person and when I grew up I started realising more who I am and started communicating much better with other people.”
During the interview, Camille and Micallef tried to predict the results of three major matches that will be played this weekend from the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A and the Maltese Premier League.
Napoli look to bounce back against Lazio
Serie A leaders Napoli will be looking to bounce back from recent disappointments when they host Lazio at the Diego Maradona Stadium on Sunday.
Both Ben Camille and Jean Claude Micallef tipped the Partenopei to take maximum spoils from this match.
Napoli will keen to amend for a disappointing few days which saw them suffer back-to-back defeats at Inter and Spartak Moscow.
The 3-2 defeat at the San Siro last weekend was Napoli’s first of the league season, cut the gap between the league leaders and champions Inter to four points and cost them their star striker Victor Osimhen.
Osimhen is expected to be out of action for three months after fracturing his left cheek and eye socket in a sickening clash of heads with Milan Skriniar.
Lazio on the other hand are determined to boost their hopes of qualification to next season’s Champions League and are on the back of an impressive 3-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in the Europa League.
Chelsea to pile more misery on United?
In the English Premier League, leaders Chelsea take on struggling Manchester United at Stamford Bridge and while Jean Claude Micallef tipped the Blues to prevail, Ben Camille tipped this match to end in a draw.
Chelsea starts as clear favourites to clinch all three points on Sunday as Thomas Tuchel’s team have been flying lately.
Last weekend, they swept apart Leicester City at the King Power Stadium 3-0 to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League before in midweek they thumped Juventus 4-0 at Stamford Bridge to book their place in the Champions League last 16.
Romelu Lukaku is likely to lead his line against his former team-mates and the Blues will hope the Belgian striker’s goals can help them add more woes on United.
On the other hand, United come into the match after a turbulent week which saw manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lose his job and Michael Carrick appointed as caretaker manager.
The Reds did well to reach the knock-out stages of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Villarreal and will hope their players can maintain the positive momentum against Chelsea ahead of the probable arrive of Ralf Ragnick as their interim coach for the rest of the season.
Gżira United, Gudja United desperate for points
In the Maltese Premier League, Gżira United and Gudja United will be desperate to pick up points as they look to revitalise their season.
Both Camille and Micallef tipped Gżira United to take all three points from the match despite their poor run of form of late.
Gżira United come into the match on the back of a disappointing run of results that saw them pick just one point from their last three matches which left them eighth in the standings and well behind in this season’s title race.
A win against Gudja is imperative for Darren Abdilla’s team if they are to stay in the hunt for a top six place.
Gudja on the other hand, are also struggling for results as they have lost their last four matches to slip second from bottom on seven points.
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