Debuts, just like testimonials, offer unrivalled memories in the career of a footballer. A debut can either be memorable or one to forget. For Matthew “Ottamax” Owino, Sunday, June 2, 1996 is a day he will live to remember.
Algeria, nicknamed the Desert Foxes, were in town for a pre-World Cup qualifier. As expected, the Moi International Sports Centre was the venue as Harambee Stars looked to slay the African giants and add another page of history written at the pristine football cathedral.
The pre-match talk was hinged on the fact that Kenya had never gone past this stage and made it to the qualifiers proper. Newly appointed Coach Vojoslav “Vojo” Gordasevic had his work cut out and the absence of his number one goalkeeper John Busolo, who had landed a professional stint with South African side QwaQwa Stars, only complicated his chances of getting a result from this match.
In the absence of Busolo, Gordasevic had Ken Kenyatta, Jack Gatheru, Francis Onyiso and Owino to pick from. After axing Gatheru, the brave Serbian picked a green Owino to start ahead of the fairly experienced Onyiso and Kenyatta. On match day, the lean figure of Owino brazenly walked behind skipper Sammy Omollo as the Kenyan side walked out of the tunnel.
After a barren stalemate in the first half, Vincent Kwarula broke the deadlock on 58 minutes. Henry Motego then extended the hosts’ lead from the spot nine minutes later. Ahmed Zerrouki struck in the 80th minute to blot Owino’s debut but with three minutes left on the clock Musa Otieno’ header made it 3-1 and put Kenya in pole position to proceed.
A fortnight later the 20-year-old Owino maintained his place in goal as Algeria edged nine-man Kenya 1-0 in Algiers. Both Allan Odhiambo and Francis Oduor saw red in the fiercely contested match where Algeria needed a 2-0 win to proceed on away goals.
Gordasevic made history taking Kenya to the group stage of a World Cup qualifier but he was later replaced by German Reinhard Fabisch in October after losing 1-0 to Namibia in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign.
While his stay was short-lived, Gordasevic will be remembered for unearthing one of the finest custodians Kenya has ever produced - Ottamax - an eccentric who had a rare blend of flamboyance, great reflexes and daring character that earned him praise and criticism in equal measure.
SIMILAR SITUATION
Twenty two years later, Frenchman Sebastien Migne finds himself in a similar situation as Harambee Stars prepare to face the Black Stars of Ghana on September 8 at Kasarani. He inherited a limping side and one that was lacking leadership in key departments notably goalkeeping where Arnold Origi’s premature “retirement” is yet to sink in.
In a bid to address the inadequacies in goal, Migne called up five goalkeepers to camp for the Ghana match namely Patrick Matasi, Boniface Oluoch, Faruk Shikhalo, Brian Bwire and Ian Otieno. While Matasi and Oluoch have been used interchangeably in goal by his predecessors Paul Put and Stanley Okumbi, Migne does not look convinced by the pair who have not been at their best in recent times.
Matasi, who joined Tusker in June from Posta Rangers, did not impress the Frenchman in the Hero’s International Cup in India while Oluoch has not featured for Gor Mahia since he gave away two cheap goals in the 3-2 away win over Yanga in the Caf Confederation Cup.
Bwire, the Kariobangi Sharks youngster, is certainly one for the future and this means Migne could consider the on form duo of Otieno and Shikhalo for the crucial qualifier. Shikhalo has rediscovered himself at Bandari and has kept 18 clean sheets in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) this term.
On the other hand, Otieno has taken the Zambian Super League (ZSL) by storm, keeping 13 clean sheets in 15 appearances for his new club Red Arrows. Only Jacob Banda of champions Zesco United has a better record.
OTIENO'S STEADY RISE
Like Ottamax who spent his early days in the national team as an understudy to Busolo and Washington Muhanji, Otieno deputised Oluoch and Origi during Bobby Williamson’s reign. He earned his first call up in 2014 after a man-of-the-match performance for Posta Rangers in the 1-0 win GOtv Shield semi-final win over Bandari.
A year later, he maintained his place in the team despite the arrival of Matasi from AFC Leopards and he led an experienced Posta Rangers side back to the KPL as skipper at the tender age of 21.
“I met Ian as a youngster keeper who had great potential to reach greater heights. He really works hard in training and he is very talented and disciplined. It is no surprise that he settled in very well at Posta," Posta Rangers goalkeepers coach Lawrence Webo, who spotted him at now defunct Admiral, tells me.
“We even made him the captain because he is a good communicator and motivator. We knew that the armband will give him confidence and it worked very well. That extra responsibility challenged him more.”
Inevitably, his exploits in the second tier convinced Williamson to hand him his senior team debut in the 2015 Genocide Commemoration Cup held in June where he kept two clean sheets against Rwanda (0-0) and South Sudan (2-0).
“When I used to train him I always told him to look beyond Posta. He had all the attributes to be a regular at the national team and also play professional football.”
In December of that year, Otieno made the cut for Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup alongside Oluoch and David Okello. Unfortunately he did not make a save as Kenya was knocked out by Rwanda 5-3 through post-match penalties after settling for a barren draw in regulation time in the quarters.
“I feel if I had given that chance to Ian we would have beaten Rwanda and gone all the way to the final. Bony was not in the right state of mind after being wrongly criticised in the media. Ian is so good on penalties so I feel he could have done something,” Ottamax, the then Harambee Stars goalkeeper coach, revealed.
AFC LEOPARDS MOVE
His stock continued to rise and in June 2016, he moved to 13-time Kenyan champions AFC Leopards on a one-and-a-half-year deal amid reports that he had fallen out with Posta Rangers head coach Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno.
“I was really affected by those reports because they were not true. I talked to the management and told them that I wanted to leave. Zico did not want me to move but AFC Leopards bought my contract. There was no issue between me and the coach,” insists Ian Otieno, who was also a target for rivals Gor Mahia.
As his former employers soared to fourth place with Matasi as first choice keeper, Otieno and Ingwe were on a steady decline and eventually finished 13th on the log, four points above the relegation zone. They embarked on a rebuilding process the following year and announced Stewart Hall as head coach in January 2017. Some of his new signings were Mathare United’s Robinson Kamura and Whyvonne Isuza, Muhoroni Youth’s Samuel Ndung’u, Posta Rangers’ Salim Abdallah as well as Western Stima’s Gabriel Andika and Dennis Sikhayi.
However, Hall stuck with Otieno as his first choice yet Leopards defensive woes persisted as the playing unit struggled to master the Briton’s 3-5-2 formation. Their inadequacies at the back were badly exposed in May when a rampant Gor Mahia handed them a 3-0 humiliation. A disappointed Hall tore into his team describing them as “scared rabbits” as he sought to distance himself from that mess of a performance. Otieno, who was in goal, was not spared either as he vividly recalls:
“The fans claimed that I had been bribed to gift Gor the win which was untrue. I am a professional and there is no way I could do that. They kept on chiding me and it reached a point I could not take it anymore."
“I talked to my family about it and made a decision to move. I approached Hall and asked him to give Andika a chance,” reflected Otieno who lost his place to Andika following the arrival of Robert Matano as interim coach in June.
OFF TO ZAMBIA
After seeing off the remainder of his contract, Ian - a free agent - began club hunting. He flirted with Mathare United and reportedly joined Sofapaka in January before securing a deal with Red Arrows in February 2018 after a successful two-week trial.
“I thank God for the second chance because this move was unexpected. I did not have a good time at Leopards but I learnt a lot about patience and humility. When I decided to leave Leopards, I wanted a new challenge so when this opportunity came it was an easy decision to make. Kenyans had already made a name here and that was a good starting point,” offers Otieno.
“It is a very tough and tricky league. Every team has something to play for. There is a lot of running and it’s more physical so your fitness levels really have to be high. It is also professionally run and can only get better,” he adds.
PERFECT DEBUT
He did not have a smooth sailing to the first team after missing the preseason tour in Spain due to tense political climate at home but that did not prevent him from keeping a clean sheet on his debut and emerging man-of-the-match in the 2-0 win over New Monze Swallows at home.
“There is stiff competition in the goalkeeping department because the other two keepers are in the Zambia national team. I did not travel to Spain because I was denied a visa by the EU (European Union) at the time."
“Despite the setback, I continued working hard and was lucky to play the first match of the season after the first choice keeper (Danny Munyao) picked an injury in Spain.”
His progress was slowed down by a shoulder injury towards the end of April that saw him lose his place to Zambian international Ken Mumba. With his compatriots Jesse Were, Anthony Akumu and David Owino excelling at Zesco United, he worked hard to regain his place and has now kept four clean sheets in the last five league matches.
“Whenever I was not playing fans kept asking why I was sitting on the bench and other Kenyans were doing well for their clubs. This really pushed me to double my effort in training. I started doing personal training in the gym every morning and reporting early for the afternoon sessions for individual training,” revealed Otieno, who celebrated his 24th birthday on August 9.
“The goalkeeping coaches have really helped me improve because they told me what to expect right from day one. They push me a lot in training and I owe my clean sheets to them,” he said of Kaliliro Kakonje and Medson Luwawa, Red Arrows' goalkeeping coaches.
As he returns to the national team, Otieno expects stiff competition from the other four keepers but he is all braced for the challenge.
“I thank God for the call up because it’s been long since I was in the national team. It will not be easy because we are five good keepers. Competition brings out the best in me and I think my performances in Zambia have answered my critics who claimed that I was afraid of competition at AFC Leopards.”
Ottamax, who strongly influenced Otieno’s early days in the national team, sees the youngster as the heir to Origi and the best bet to start in goal against Ghana.
“I have a lot of respect for Ian because he has proven his quality in a new environment. I got my debut when I was at my peak and the same applies to Ian. He is at his peak and age is on his side. I would vouch for him against Ghana and also as a good replacement for Arnold."
“He has played in the junior national teams so he has the right exposure. In terms of character there is nothing to fear because he is one boy with guts. He has also learned a lot from Bony and Arnold so he fits in very well.”
DIFFERENT DIMENSION
Interestingly Webo, who has trained Matasi, Shikhalo and Otieno at Posta Rangers, believes the latter adds a different dimension to the team though he fell short of picking him as his preferred first choice.
“Ian brings something different as far as professionalism is concerned. He is a modern goalkeeper who likes playing from behind and his mastery of one on situations makes him stand out from the rest."
“As a trainer I am proud of them because they have all passed through my hands. The three of them are good. Matasi has an advantage because he has been in the picture while Ian is just being reintroduced. It is up to the head coach to make his final decision,” declared Webo who had professional stints in Rwanda.
TOUGH CALL
Indeed Migne has to make tough calls in a match where he will be without dependable centre half Brian Mandela who is suspended alongside the on form Beijing Renhe forward Ayub Timbe. Skipper Victor Wanyama remains a doubt while his most experienced keeper Oluoch has spiralled down the pecking order at Gor Mahia.
If Migne needs encouragement and caution in his decision, history certainly provides them. Ottamax's story offers him a page to learn from. Similarly, Bernard Lama gambled with a 22-year-old Origi who had a nightmare of a debut as his infamous howler in September 2006 gifted Eritrea a 2-1 win at Kasarani. From there on, Origi's story is well documented.
Migne has shown that he can trust young players in big matches having handed Mike Kibwage and Ovella Ochieng’ a starting role in the final of the Hero’s International Cup against India.
“There is no big match for someone who is ready mentally, physically and emotionally. My motivation comes from how I have been performing recently."
“I want to fight for my place because I think time has come for me to step up and offer everything I have for my country,” underlined Otieno.
Over to you Migne!
Source: Daily Nation