Stephen plays in Empoli, frequents the bench more than the pitch, and is looking for his first goal in Serie A. Cristian this season he has already scored eleven goals with Cesena at the top of group B of Serie C. Much of Italy only noticed him yesterday when his father, during the home match against Olbia, took to the pitch and he punched guest goalkeeper Filippo Rinaldi in the face, who had come in hard on his son. But in Romagna the twins have been local football stars since middle school. “Don’t ask me who is stronger between Stiven and Cristian, because honestly I wouldn’t know what to answer,” he says Filippo Masolini, now coach of Rimini’s Under 16s, who trained and raised the two Italian-Albanian attackers from the ages of 14 to 17, first in San Marino, then in Cesena. And that he scolded them when they passed the ball only to each other. “They don’t compete with each other, they collaborate in everything. If one scored a goal, his only concern was that before the final whistle his brother would also score,” says Masolini.
Shpendi, the father invades the field and punches the Olbia goalkeeper Rinaldi 07 January 2024
Soulmates
Separated for the first time since they started playing football as children, this season they find themselves living in two different worlds. Stiven, who started for the first time against Inter on 24 September, is getting to know the big stadiums, the champions, but also the difficulty of emerging. After the hour on the pitch with Toro on December 16th, he effectively never played again. Cristian, however, continues to frequent provincial fields and escape from old-fashioned marking, because in Serie C there is no VAR until the playoffs. The pearl of his season so far was the double against Lucchese. Stiven says he’s waiting for Cristian in Serie A. Cristian doesn’t miss a Stiven match on TV. And when the calendar allows it, each attends the other’s matches in the stands. Often, in the company of his father.
Cristian Shpendi
Difficult to distinguish them
The two Shpendis are clearly homozygous, combed in the same way, often dressed similarly even off the field. And they have the same tone of voice. Distinguishing them is no joke. “It took me six months to understand who was who, without having to read the shirt numbers. They are similar in game too. Stiven is more technical, has a more sensitive foot and a little more physique. Cristian is faster in anticipation”, says Masolini, who in San Marino modified the game module to make them play together. As for character, the coach who raised them in the youth team says: “I always thought that Cristian was stronger, more dominant. I don’t know if that’s true, but that’s always been my impression.”
Heart divided between Albania and Italy
Called up to the Albanian youth selections, they have not yet made their senior national team debut. This would allow them to choose Italy, obviously always assuming that someone thinks of calling them up. They could also end up playing in different shirts, like the Boateng brothers: Kevin Prince in Ghana and Jerome in Germany. Or the two Vieris: Christian striker of Italy, Massimiliano of Australia. Interviewed by Courier of Romagnathey admitted that, in this case, choosing would not be a joke: they were born in Ancona, their parents are Albanian, they grew up in Italy but their roots are on the other side of the Adriatic.
Stephen Bird
Two beastly physiques
As kids, it was said of them that they had everything except their physique. Now they have that too. “Until they were 16, the Shpendi twins were rejected by big clubs because they were considered too short for the role. Today, at twenty years old, they are both over six feet tall and have remarkable qualities. Watch them play, then tell me how many boys born in 2003 are stronger than them who can wear the blue shirt,” says Masolini.
2024-01-08 08:21:40
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