Harambee Stars striker Michael Olunga has been recognized by World football governing body, Fifa among the five ‘little-known’ strikers who starred in 2020.
Fifa has selected Kashiwa Reysol striker Olunga in a detailed report on their website. He was selected alongside Costa Rican Marcel Hernandez, Danish Kasper Junker, Argentian Ramiro Rocca and Estonian Rauno Sappinen.
“Michael Olunga who began his career with Liberty Sports Academy in his native Kenya, has, at 26, already had his passport stamped a number of times and managed to find the net in several different countries, including Sweden, Spain, China, and his current adopted home, Japan,” the report explains.
“And it was after arriving in the Land of the Rising Sun in 2018 that he began to score more regularly and in more clinical fashion. “I attribute the success to hard work and staying focused even when you think everything is lost,” he told Fifa.com in April
“It’s about believing you are capable of achieving great things and doing wonders on the pitch.”
Olunga scored 28 league goals in 32 matches, leading promoted Kashiwa Reysol to seventh place at the conclusion of the Japan top-flight league season. He was the competition’s top-scorer and also voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the league.
His other records include becoming the first-ever player to score three goals for Girona in the Spanish top-flight.
He also scored eight times in one match as Kashiwa beat Kyoto Sanga 13-1 in Japan’s second division in 2019.
He also scored two of Kenya’s three goals at the tournament in Egypt.