Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga celebrating after scoring a goal for his Swedish club IF Djugardens. PHOTO/courtesy.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 7- “Oooh! Ooooh! Olunga! Olunga! Olunga! Ooooh!”…. IF Djugardens fans chanted after the final whistle of the club’s last league match of the season, a 5-2 rout over GIF Sundsvall in which Olunga scored a brace and gave an assist.
The twin goals at the Norrporten Arena took his season tally to 12, ranking him as the fifth best scorer in the Swedish top tier in his debut season five off top scorer Nigerian John Owoeri who turns out for Hacken.
“I want to thank God for everything he has done in my life. Thanks for the two goals today and for finishing my first season with 12 goals for my team Djurgadens IF. I want to thank all my fans who have stood by me during the bad times and good times,” Olunga posted on his Facebook page after the match.
Djugardens finished the season seventh on the log with 43 points, with Malmo winning the title after finishing the season with 66 points, six ahead AIK and Norkoping who finished second and third respectively.
The former Tusker and Gor Mahia forward endured a difficult start to his first stint outside Kenya, but managed to settle in well at midseason and has been banging goals for fun for the side, endearing himself to the club’s faithful who in turn responded to chanting his name.
The striker is expected to lead the line over the next international break for the national team Harambee Stars when they take on Liberia and Mozambique in Nairobi.
He has been named in head coach Stanbley Okumbi’s 12-man foreign based players list which also includes the returning Clifton Miheso who has been impressive for his South African club Golden Arrows.
Rama Salim has been excluded from the squad to take care of matters between him and his Slovakian club while Belgium based winger Ayub Timbe will miss the two matches with injury. After missing the last friendly match against DR Congo, skipper Victor Wanyama returns to the squad.
The team started training on Sunday evening and is set to play Mozambique on Saturday with the second match against Liberia being played three days later on Tuesday.
