Shy boy from Dandora rises to the pinnacle of professional football

Born in a football family, it was almost inevitable that Arnold Origi found himself playing the beautiful game.

His father, Austin Oduor, captained Kenya’s record league champions Gor Mahia to the Africa Cup Winners Cup (Mandela Cup) success in 1987, represented Kenya in the final of the African Games against Egypt that year as well as the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

His uncle Mike Okoth, the father of Liverpool striker Divock Origi, had a decent professional career in Belgium and represented Kenya at the 1992 and 2004 Afcon tournaments. His other uncles, Gerald and Anthony Origi, played in the local league.

“He used to come to the stadium to watch me play so it’s natural that he wanted to do what his father did (play football). But just like any other parent my priority was to give him good education because football didn’t do much for me apart from the fame and prestige.

“I wanted to make sure he had something to fall back to if football didn’t work out for him. The Mathare (Youth Sports Association) fraternity really shaped his football career,” says Oduor.

But the more he went through Kenya’s education system, the more it became apparent that Origi and football were inseparable. While Kheri handed him his national team debut, it’s Ernest Mukabana who saw Origi’s potential as a young boy at Nairobi’s Dandora estate and nurtured his goalkeeping talent.

Nairobi's main dumping ground is found in Dandora and it’s one of Africa's largest rubbish sites sitting on 30 acres. Dandora is well known for its poverty, pollution and crime.

Estate side Espanol, coached by Mukabana, was the team that every child in Dandora wanted to play for and Origi was no different. He started out as a striker at another Dandora junior side Young Mighties before moving to Espanol.

“Whenever I kicked the ball towards him, his reaction was always to try and catch it. My instincts told me he could make a good keeper and I encouraged him to start playing there,” recalls Mukabana.

With no resources to buy cones, Mukabana used building stones to mark goalposts and the pitch during training. The goalkeepers’ training regime involved diving endlessly on the murram pitch where Dandora Stadium sits today and Mukabana believes this is where Origi honed his diving skills.

“I would arrange almost 10 stones two metres apart, the drill involved diving for the ball and ensuring you land between the posts otherwise you would hurt yourself badly if you landed on the stones.

He used to get injured on his elbows and knees due to the murram pebbles but after attending to the injuries by wiping him using water he could get up and continue diving even with his elbows and knees swollen and bleeding,” Mukabana recalls with a chuckle.

Now 36 and a free soul, who likes speaking his mind, Origi was the complete opposite as a kid.

“He was shy and introverted. He used to come for training alone and go home alone. What stood out was his passion for the game. At times, he would be grounded at home and warned not to come to the field but he always found a way to sneak out and join us,” shares Mukabana.

His exploits at Espanol, which played in the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) Dandora Zone league, earned him his first trip abroad in 1995 to Norway with MYSA’s Under-12 team.

Gabriel Njoroge’s boys made history becoming the first African side to win the Norway Cup that year in the process scoring 81 goals and conceding only twice in 11 matches.

MYSA beat Norwegian side Korvol 3-2 in the final and Njoroge vividly recalls Origi’s heroics at Ullevaal Stadium.

“He carried the day in the final. We were leading 3-0 but our opponents came back strongly in the second half scoring two quick goals. We played under pressure but Origi made many saves that won us the game. He was the man-of-the-match."

“At that young age, you could see he had the hunger and talent. He was lucky to have got good coaches to guide him in his early development. He was also obedient, disciplined and consistent in training. You could see one day he will also become a star,” said Njoroge, who later signed Origi at Mathare United in 2001, handing him his first professional contract following stints at lower league sides Pelico and Pumwani Sportiff.

ROLE MODEL

To date, Origi has kept MYSA close to his heart and remains one of the best role models to the youth from the organisation.

“Origi is one of the players who has kept the values of MYSA of giving back to the community. Since he moved to Norway he always visits the MYSA teams to cheer them at the Norway Cup. He also donated various football equipment to the kids and trains young goalkeepers when on holiday,” said MYSA founder Bob Munro.