Michael Olunga

Michael Olunga Ogada (born 26 March 1994) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail and captains the Kenya national team.

Michael Olunga
Personal information
Full name Michael Olunga Ogada[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-26) 26 March 1994
Place of birth Nairobi, Kenya
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Al-Duhail
Number 14
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Liberty Sports Academy ? (32)
2013 → Tusker (loan) 18 (2)
2014 → Thika United (loan) 26 (9)
2015 → Gor Mahia (loan) 27 (19)
2016 Djurgårdens IF 27 (12)
2017–2018 Guizhou Zhicheng 9 (2)
2017–2018 → Girona (loan) 14 (3)
2018–2021 Kashiwa Reysol 72 (58)
2021– Al-Duhail 56 (57)
International career‡
2015– Kenya 50 (22)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 October 2023, 16:24 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 September 2023, 16:24 (UTC)

Club career

Early career and Gor Mahia

While still a student at the Upper Hill School, Olunga began his career with the Liberty Sports Academy in the Nairobi County League. He scored 32 goals for the side during the 2012 season, helping them finish the season unbeaten and earn promotion to the Nairobi Provincial League.[3][4] He made headlines when he scored seven goals in a single match helping his team to an 8–0 win.[5]

Initially reported to be attending trials in France, Olunga signed for Kenyan Premier League side Tusker on a one-year loan deal from Liberty on 19 December 2012.[6]

After finishing the 2013 season with two goals for Tusker, Olunga was loaned to fellow Premier League side Thika United for another year,[7] before joining Gor Mahia before the beginning of the 2015 season.[8] He finished the season as the club's top scorer in the league with 19 goals to help the side win a record 15th league title without losing a single match, including the second goal in a 2–0 win over Muhoroni Youth on their final league match of the season.[9]

Djurgården

On 17 February 2016, Olunga joined Swedish side Djurgårdens IF on a four-year contract, after joining the team's pre-season training camp on trial.[10][11] He scored his first two goals for Djurgården on 8 August 2016 against IFK Göteborg in a 3–1 win.[12] He was also named man of the match[13] and Djurgården coach Mark Dempsey praised him for his match winning heroics.[14] In the next match Olunga scored once again in the 2–2 draw versus IF Elfsborg at the Tele2 Arena.[15][16] On 27 August, he scored the match-winning goal against Gefle IF with a volley in the 86th minute. In the last 12 games of the Allsvenskan Olunga scored 12 goals which earned him a fifth place in the Allsvenskan top scorer table.[17] He was nominated for Newcomer of the year in Swedish football by a jury of Allsvenskan coaches and Swedish journalists as well as the coaches of the Swedish national teams. The award later went to Alexander Isak.

On 10 November 2016, Kenyan football site Soka reported that Djurgården had turned down offers on Olunga from La Liga side Betis, Lokeren, Belgian champions Club Brugge and Swedish champions Malmö FF.[18]

Guizhou Zhicheng

In 2017, Olunga joined Chinese club Guizhou Zhicheng.[19]

Girona (loan)

On 1 September 2017, Olunga was loaned to La Liga side Girona FC, for one year.[20] On 13 January 2018, he made his La Liga debut against Las Palmas scoring a hat-trick in the span of 22 minutes during a 6–0 win, becoming both the first Kenyan player and the first Girona player to score a hat-trick in La Liga.[21]

Kashiwa Reysol

On 10 August 2018, Olunga joined Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol.[22]

On 24 November 2019, he scored eight goals for Kashiwa in a 13–1 victory over Kyoto Sanga.[23] Olunga finished the season with 27 league goals as Kashiwa finished the J2 season as champions and won promotion to the first division.[24]

In J1 League play on 26 July 2020, Olunga scored a hat-trick against Vegalta Sendai; the match finished in a 5–1 victory.[25]

Olunga finished as the top scorer in the 2020 Japanese J1 League with 28 goals,[26] winning the Golden boot and the J-League 2020 MVP. He is the first African player to win the J-league MVP award.[27]

Al-Duhail

In January 2021, Olunga moved to Qatar Stars League champions Al-Duhail on a three-seasons contract,[28] for a reported transfer fee of €6 million.[29]

He made his debut for the club on 12 January, in a 3–1 away loss against Al Sadd.[30] On 25 January 2021, Olunga scored a hat-trick in Duhail's 6–0 win against Al Ahli in the Emir of Qatar Cup[31] .[32] Olunga finished as the top scorer of the 2021 AFC Champions League,[33] but Al-Duhail crashed out of the competition after a 1–1 draw with team Al Ahli Saudi in late April.[34] and Esteghlal qualified as group winners.

On 8 May 2023, Olunga and his club secured the 2022–23 Qatar Stars League title, scoring 4 goals in a 5-2 defeat over Al-Shamal.

International career

Olunga made his debut for the Kenya national team in a friendly against Seychelles at the Stade Linité in Victoria on 28 March 2015.[35] He scored his first goal for the Harambee Stars in a friendly against South Sudan which resulted in a 2–0 win. On 27 July 2019, during the 2019 AFCON Olunga scored a double to complete a comeback against Tanzania.

Personal life

Olunga studied geospatial engineering at the Technical University of Kenya and pursued a Bachelor of Engineering degree. For this reason, he is regularly known as "The Engineer" by Kenyan football fans.[36] He has stated that he looks up to Dutch striker Robin van Persie as a role model.[37]

Career statistics

Club
As of 24 October 2023.[38]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Upper Hill School 2012 National KSSSA 5————5
Liberty Sports Academy 2012 Nairobi County Champions 32————32
Tusker F.C. 2013 KPL 182————182
Thika United F.C. 2014 269————269
Gor Mahia F.C. 2015 27192—5[lower-alpha 1]3[lower-alpha 2]29
Djurgårdens IF 2016 Allsvenskan 271210———2812
Guizhou 2017 Chinese Super League 9200———92
Girona (loan) 2017–18 La Liga 14320——1[lower-alpha 3]0173
Kashiwa Reysol 2018 J1 League 103—00——103
2019 J2 League 30270032——3329
2020 J1 League 3228—31——3529
Total 7258006300007861
Al-Duhail 2020–21 QSL 963[lower-alpha 4]52[lower-alpha 5]06[lower-alpha 6]92[lower-alpha 7]02220
2021–22 2024420054—2930
2022–23 2222106[lower-alpha 8][lower-alpha 9]12[lower-alpha 10][lower-alpha 11]326[lower-alpha 12]43840
2023–24 550000110066
Total 5657878121516849596
Career total 2391991191717141997286251
  1. Goals in 2015 Kagame Interclub Cup
  2. Goals in 2015 KPL Top 8 Cup
  3. Appearance in Copa Catalunya
  4. Appearances in Emir of Qatar Cup
  5. Appearances in Qatar Cup
  6. Appearances in AFC Champions League
  7. Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
  8. 2 Appearance in Qatar Cup
  9. 4 Appearances in Qatari Stars Cup
  10. 2 goal in Qatar Cup
  11. 10 goals in Qatari Stars Cup
  12. Appearances in FIFA Referees Cup

International
Scores and results list Kenya's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Olunga goal.[39]
List of international goals scored by Michael Olunga
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
17 June 2015Amahoro Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda South Sudan2–02–0Friendly
230 May 2015National Heroes Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia Zambia1–01–22017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
37 October 2015Stade Anjalay, Belle Vue Maurel, Mauritius Mauritius5–25–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
413 November 2015Nairobi City Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya Cape Verde1–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
522 November 2015Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Uganda2–02–02015 CECAFA Cup
625 November 2015Awassa Kenema Stadium, Awassa, Ethiopia Burundi1–11–12015 CECAFA Cup
74 October 2016Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo DR Congo1–01–0Friendly
823 March 2017Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos, Kenya Uganda1–01–1Friendly
926 March 2017Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos, Kenya DR Congo1–02–1Friendly
102–1
1110 June 2017National Stadium, Freetown, Sierra Leone Sierra Leone1–21–22019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
125 October 2017Basra Sports City, Basra, Iraq Iraq1–21–2Friendly
1327 March 2018Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco Central African Republic2–32–3Friendly
1414 October 2018Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, Kenya Ethiopia1–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
1515 June 2019Centro Deportivo Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain DR Congo1–01–1Friendly
1627 June 201930 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt Tanzania1–13–22019 Africa Cup of Nations
173–2
1814 November 2019Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt Egypt1–11–12021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
195 September 2021Nyamirambo Regional Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda Rwanda1–01–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2011 November 2021St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende, Entebbe, Uganda Uganda1–01–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2115 November 2021Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya Rwanda1–02–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2228 March 2023Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran Iran1–01–2Friendly

Honours

Tusker

Gor Mahia

Kashiwa Reysol

Al-Duhail

Individual

References
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