When Senegal beat Kenya 3-0 in the 1992 AFCON group encounter, one of the scorers was Souleyman Sane, father to Manchester City’s forward Leroy Sane. On the same field, appearing for Kenya, aged 24 years, was Mike Okoth Origi, father to Liverpool’s forward, Divock Origi.
27 years down the line, the two teams will meet again in a similar encounter, in another AFCON group stage match on July 1, but none of the sons of the two strikers, despite growing to be lethal machines in front of goal, will represent the countries their fathers represented.
Leroy and Divock, instead, chose to represent their countries of birth, Germany and Belgium respectively, as opposed to their fathers’ motherland.
Before EURO 2016 kicked off, Mike Okoth talked in high regard of the two attackers, likening their rivalry and skills to that of his opponent in 1992, Souleyman Sane. He termed the two as having incredible speed and great technical abilities. Saying that he cast no doubts on where the Man City star inherited his ability from.
The absence of the two stars for Kenya and Senegal represents the rot in football administration, not only in the said countries, but across Africa. Mike Okoth understands the rot that has bewildered Kenyan football for decades and it could be the reason he did not mind persuading his son to play for Harambee Stars.
Undoubtedly, his prowess in front of goal would have come in handy during the tournament against strong opponents in Algeria, Senegal and Tanzania.
Earlier, Sane’s father was quoted saying that Senegal’s football body did not make any attempts get his son to play for Senegal, despite knowing well that he was available and eligible to play for the West African nation.
On the other hand, it has always been different for Divock, whose father has stated out publicly that it was automatic that he, Divock, would play for Belgium.
Despite Divock making Kenyans happy with his UEFA Champions League final goal against Tottenham Hotspurs, and forming the focal point of discussion for the seemingly boring duel, the fact remains that as far as football matters are concerned, Divock’s name does not appear anywhere near the Kenya national team, Harambee Stars.
In 1986, I played against Mike Okoth Origi, father to Divock #Origi in the Kenyan Premier League.
Today, I’m glad to see his son, Divock score an important goal that sealed the UEFA CL title for Liverpool FC. #UCLfinal
Photo/ @AFCLeopards pic.twitter.com/Zz0w8tVw9N
— JJ Masiga (@JJ_Masiga) June 1, 2019