For his classy style of play, K'ogalo fans nicknamed George Odhiambo 'blackberry'. Any one who has followed Kenyan football in the past two years would acknowledge the striker has done the nickname justice.
Not only has the player churned out one great performance after another throughout the period, he has also individually won several matches for Gor. Apart from his numerous assists and penalty wins, the talented youngster scored eight goals to help his club into second position in the 2010 Kenya Premier League (KPL) season.
His confident, stylish, dazzling and mesmerising, and often unstoppable goal-bound bursts contributed in great measure to Gor's ranking as probably the most entertaining team in KPL's 2010 season.
As he embarks on his professional football career in Denmark, I can only wish him the best of luck and hope that he will eventually fulfill his great potential in a Kenya national team shirt.
16 November 2010
So what happened to the Mexico v Kenya match?
One of the worst things to happen to Kenyan football recently is the return of Hussein Swaleh to local football management. Whenever the KPL technical committee chairman has opened his mouth, he has uttered what has ultimately turned out to be untruths.
When Kenya returned from Guinea Bissau with a shameful 0-1 score, Swaleh blamed it on bad blood between Mariga and Oliech. A few believed him but most Kenyans knew the true story. Then he announced an impending Kenya v Ivory Coast tie that never was.
When I heard him reveal that Kenya were scheduled to meet Mexico in a friendly on the 17th November FIFA friendlies day, like in the proverbial "wolf! wolf!" cries story, I ignored him. For the sake of his credibility, I hope he is right this time but I highly doubt it. Am writing this on the 16th November and there is not a single sign in sight of the match happening.
When Kenya returned from Guinea Bissau with a shameful 0-1 score, Swaleh blamed it on bad blood between Mariga and Oliech. A few believed him but most Kenyans knew the true story. Then he announced an impending Kenya v Ivory Coast tie that never was.
Ulinzi won the championship but Gor won too
As the Ulinzi brigade decimated Karuturi Sports in the battle of Afraha with a 2-0 thrashing, another different scenario unfolded at City Stadium. Gor Mahia FC, who had forced the title chase to the wire, appeared bereft of ideas on the biggest occasion, when they knew only a win would do if they were to snatch the title from Ulinzi's jaws.
It was on the stands of City stadium that all the action happened. The match was supposed to have been a home game for Nairobi City Stars but the K'ogalo faithful invaded the stadium in their thousands and turned it into 'their home march'.
Like they had done throughout the season, they sung and blew vuvuzelas nonstop in support of their beloved team. The intensity of their passion could have matched any that can be found at the staunchest of European and South American club supporters .
One of the outstanding legacies of the 2010 KPL premier league season will surely be that K'ogalo fans reignited passion in local football. They turned up at City with great hopes of their team being crowned champions but really, fate was not in their hands, it was elsewhere-at Afraha Stadium, where Ulinzi was in no mood for early Christmas gift.
Hopefully, the fans' season-long show of commitment will be enough motivation for Gor to build on their 2010 success and deliver the long missing trophy to their fans.
It was on the stands of City stadium that all the action happened. The match was supposed to have been a home game for Nairobi City Stars but the K'ogalo faithful invaded the stadium in their thousands and turned it into 'their home march'.
Like they had done throughout the season, they sung and blew vuvuzelas nonstop in support of their beloved team. The intensity of their passion could have matched any that can be found at the staunchest of European and South American club supporters .
One of the outstanding legacies of the 2010 KPL premier league season will surely be that K'ogalo fans reignited passion in local football. They turned up at City with great hopes of their team being crowned champions but really, fate was not in their hands, it was elsewhere-at Afraha Stadium, where Ulinzi was in no mood for early Christmas gift.
Hopefully, the fans' season-long show of commitment will be enough motivation for Gor to build on their 2010 success and deliver the long missing trophy to their fans.
12 November 2010
Will Ulinzi take the trophy home?
For their final match of the season, which happens to be their most important too, Ulinzi have spiced their tension filled preparations with combative military lingo, obviously to cow their opponents, Sher Karuturi`Sports. but will karuturi oblige them? will the Naivasha flower men walk out of Afraha with bowed heads and hidden tails?
Coach Benjamin Nyangweso told reporters during his team's training at Afraha Stadium that the match will be total war, fought with all ammunition in their stores. Is that mere big talk or words of conviction? If u ask me, that is how scared men talk, projecting fake bravado to mask their trembling limbs.
It is true the military side have been consistent throughout the season but Sunday's game is different. It is a really tense affair and Ulinzi have definitely cracked under pressure on more than one occasion this season, including the previous weekend when they came up short against Red Berets. In addition, they are leading the league partly because hot favourites Sofapaka and Tusker floundered along the way.
Although Karuturi have not had as great a second round as they did the first, during which they stringed a chain of credible away performances, securing a number of draws and a few wins on the trot, they have proved enough times already that they are no pushovers in Kenya's increasingly competitive soccer scene. Ulinzi forced a 0-0 result at the flower men's fortress in Naivasha but that is no conclusive measure of what to expect come Sunday.
On the basis of their stubborn performances throughout the season, grinding out one result after another, I can not begrudge them of their deserved victory if they beat Karuturi.
But how I would love to see the passionate and artistic K'ogello and their faithful fans lifting the KPL trophy this year. They really believed in themselves and put up a marvelous fight against the men of present day Kenyan football. It is possible, but Ulinzi must fumble against Karuturi first, let's see what Sunday has in store for us.
Coach Benjamin Nyangweso told reporters during his team's training at Afraha Stadium that the match will be total war, fought with all ammunition in their stores. Is that mere big talk or words of conviction? If u ask me, that is how scared men talk, projecting fake bravado to mask their trembling limbs.
It is true the military side have been consistent throughout the season but Sunday's game is different. It is a really tense affair and Ulinzi have definitely cracked under pressure on more than one occasion this season, including the previous weekend when they came up short against Red Berets. In addition, they are leading the league partly because hot favourites Sofapaka and Tusker floundered along the way.
Although Karuturi have not had as great a second round as they did the first, during which they stringed a chain of credible away performances, securing a number of draws and a few wins on the trot, they have proved enough times already that they are no pushovers in Kenya's increasingly competitive soccer scene. Ulinzi forced a 0-0 result at the flower men's fortress in Naivasha but that is no conclusive measure of what to expect come Sunday.
On the basis of their stubborn performances throughout the season, grinding out one result after another, I can not begrudge them of their deserved victory if they beat Karuturi.
But how I would love to see the passionate and artistic K'ogello and their faithful fans lifting the KPL trophy this year. They really believed in themselves and put up a marvelous fight against the men of present day Kenyan football. It is possible, but Ulinzi must fumble against Karuturi first, let's see what Sunday has in store for us.
05 November 2010
The derbies of armed men and 'two Gors'
Boy! won't this penultimate round of the 2010 Kenya Premier League be intriguing? Ulinzi Stars, the unfashionable military side from Nakuru, are sitting pretty a top the league with 55 points. they can smell the crown, only four points away!
Ulinzi's next opponents, Red Berets, a paramilitary side also from Nakuru, are languishing at the wrong end of the table. fifteenth with twenty seven points, they are a whole three points from safety. They know that any slip up in their next match might be the proverbial last nail that would sink them to the lower league they fought so desperately to avoid last season.
It is due to this contrasting fortunes that the Ulinzi v Red Berets match-up promises to be a cracker. Even without such heightened stakes, encounters between the two are usually supercharged owing to their shared bases and backgrounds. throw in the elements of searching for championship vis a vis survival points and you have a match in your hands,
Though Ulinzi ran away with a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture played in March, I don't see a repeat of the same happening on 06 November. Red Berets have recently become masters of last minute survival and will be in no mood to play flower girls for Ulinzi, I anticipate a draw or win for Red Berets in this one.
It is not for nothing that Sony Sugar go by the nick name Gor B. Both Gor Mahia and the Sugar men draw their staunchest following from Luo Nyanza. Gor Mahia are the more successful of the two, with 12 premier league titles and a continental trophy among many of the achievements recorded by the club over a fairly long rich history. Sony have only one premier league championship and are not in the reckoning for the 2010 honours.
Will they play spoilers for Gor? Sony's last match was away to Ulinzi. They had vowed to 'help Gor win the league' but instead got a 2-0 hiding in Nakuru. The first round encounter between the South Nyanza outfit and Gor was drawn but I expect Gor to come with their guns blazing and bury this one.
They are in inspired form and for the first time after many years, they are within touch of the coveted trophy. Even more significantly, their fans have rediscovered their passion and pride and have literary willed the team to a victory or two with their incessant chants and vuvuzelas.
Ulinzi need not worry that 'Gor B' might throw away the match because the combined passion of Gor players and fans will ensure another sustained assault at Sony Sugar's goal mouth. Watch this space.
Ulinzi's next opponents, Red Berets, a paramilitary side also from Nakuru, are languishing at the wrong end of the table. fifteenth with twenty seven points, they are a whole three points from safety. They know that any slip up in their next match might be the proverbial last nail that would sink them to the lower league they fought so desperately to avoid last season.
It is due to this contrasting fortunes that the Ulinzi v Red Berets match-up promises to be a cracker. Even without such heightened stakes, encounters between the two are usually supercharged owing to their shared bases and backgrounds. throw in the elements of searching for championship vis a vis survival points and you have a match in your hands,
Though Ulinzi ran away with a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture played in March, I don't see a repeat of the same happening on 06 November. Red Berets have recently become masters of last minute survival and will be in no mood to play flower girls for Ulinzi, I anticipate a draw or win for Red Berets in this one.
It is not for nothing that Sony Sugar go by the nick name Gor B. Both Gor Mahia and the Sugar men draw their staunchest following from Luo Nyanza. Gor Mahia are the more successful of the two, with 12 premier league titles and a continental trophy among many of the achievements recorded by the club over a fairly long rich history. Sony have only one premier league championship and are not in the reckoning for the 2010 honours.
Will they play spoilers for Gor? Sony's last match was away to Ulinzi. They had vowed to 'help Gor win the league' but instead got a 2-0 hiding in Nakuru. The first round encounter between the South Nyanza outfit and Gor was drawn but I expect Gor to come with their guns blazing and bury this one.
They are in inspired form and for the first time after many years, they are within touch of the coveted trophy. Even more significantly, their fans have rediscovered their passion and pride and have literary willed the team to a victory or two with their incessant chants and vuvuzelas.
Ulinzi need not worry that 'Gor B' might throw away the match because the combined passion of Gor players and fans will ensure another sustained assault at Sony Sugar's goal mouth. Watch this space.
Stars draw Cranes, again!
Not only have Kenya found themselves in the same Cecafa Senior Challenge group with their nemesis Uganda, the currently under performing Harambee stars will have to contend with a resurgent Malawi participating as guests and a tricky and unpredictable Ethiopian side.
Without a doubt, Kenya's group C is the group of death and if the stars take their lethargic play to Tanzania, it would not shock me if they were the first from this group to board the plane back home.
However, that said, a motivated and inspired harambee Stars could easily wallop all these teams and march all the way to the trophy - but it depends, on motivation and inspiration. what shall it be, shame or celebrations? both are possibilities - it depends.
Full fixtures available at http://www.cecafa.net/
Without a doubt, Kenya's group C is the group of death and if the stars take their lethargic play to Tanzania, it would not shock me if they were the first from this group to board the plane back home.
However, that said, a motivated and inspired harambee Stars could easily wallop all these teams and march all the way to the trophy - but it depends, on motivation and inspiration. what shall it be, shame or celebrations? both are possibilities - it depends.
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