Arnold Origi back as Okumbi names foreign-based legion
Harambee Stars goalkeeper Arnold Origi trains with the squad at the Nyayo National Stadium in the past. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
- The 33-year-old is a regular at his club with 17 league appearances to his name this season.
Norway's Lillestroem SK goalkeeper Arnold Origi is among foreign-based players summoned by Harambee Stars coach Stanley Okumbi ahead of the upcoming international friendly matches.
Origi last featured for the national team in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Guinea Bissau in March 2016.
The 33-year-old is a regular at his club with 17 league appearances to his name this season.
Origi joins Ireland’s Galway United forward Jonah Ayunga in a squad led by captain and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama.
Conspicuously missing from the 15-man squad is Georgia-based left back Erick ‘Marcelo’ Ouma.
Maritzburg United’s Brian Mandela, who was sent off in the 2-1 defeat away to Sierra Leone in the 2019 Cup of Nations first round qualifier on June 10, 2017, is also in the squad.
Stars are set for a series of friendly matches against Mauritania, Togo and Mozambique during the international break that starts on August 27.
Meanwhile, Okumbi has called up eleven more local based players among them, 2016 Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kenneth Muguna and Kariobangi Sharks defender Paschal Ogweno.
They are set to replace the Ulinzi Stars quintet of Stephen Waruru, Samuel Onyango, Mohammed Hassan and Omar Mbongi, who have withdrawn from the list ahead of the 11th edition of the East Africa Military games in Bujumbura, Burundi from 24 August to 6 September, 2017.
FULL SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Arnold Origi (Lillestroem SK, Norway), Boniface Oluoch and Peter Odhiambo (Gor Mahia), Farouk Shikhalo, Patrick Matasi (Posta Rangers), Gabriel Andika (AFC Leopards).
Defenders: David Ochieng’ (New York Cosmos, USA), Abud Omar (Slavia Sofia, Bulgaria), Bernard Ochieng’ (Vihiga United), Harun Shakava and Musa Mohammed (Gor Mahia), Simon Mbugua and Joackins Atudo (Posta Rangers), Collins Shivachi (Tusker), Joseph 'Crouch' Okumu (unattached), Dennis Sikhayi and Robinson Kamura (AFC Leopards), Pascal Ogweno (Kariobangi Sharks), Wesley Onguso (Sofapaka), Brian Mandela (Maritzburg United, South Africa), David Owino (Zesco United, Zambia)
Midfielders: Johanna Omolo (Cercle Brugge, Belgium), Ernest Wendo, George ‘Blackberry’ Odhiambo and Kenneth Muguna (Gor Mahia), Jackson Macharia (Tusker), Ezekiel Otuoma (Western Stima), Moses Mudavadi (Kakamega Homeboyz), Victor Majid, Duncan Otieno and Marcellus Ingotsi (AFC Leopards), Patillah Omoto (Kariobangi Sharks), Peter Ng’ang’a (Nakuru AllStars), Victor Wanyama (Tottenham HotSpur, England), Ayub Timbe (Beijing Renhe, China), Eric Johanna (Vasalund IF, Sweden), Cliff Miheso (Buildcon FC, Zambia), Anthony Akumu (Zesco United, Zambia).
Strikers: John Makwatta (Buildcon, Zambia), Masud Juma (Kariobangi Sharks), Boniface Muchiri (Tusker FC), Kepha Aswani (Nakumatt), Joe Waithira (Wazito), Chris Ochieng’ (Mathare United), Nicholas Kipkirui (Zoo Kericho), Jonah Ayunga (Galway United, Ireland), Michael Olunga (Guizhou Zhicheng, China), Jesse Were (Zesco United, Zambia)
