Richard Odada: Winning debut for Kenyan midfielder at his new Danish club

© Aalborg.

STARS ABROAD Richard Odada: Winning debut for Kenyan midfielder at his new Danish club

Joel Omotto 10:11 - 25.08.2023

The Harambee Stars midfielder was an 80th-minute substitute as they went on to collect all three points in the encounter.

Harambee Stars midfielder Richard Odada made his debut for Danish second-tier side AAB Aalborg on Thursday, just a week after signing on loan from Major League Soccer (MLS) club Philadelphia Union.

Odada was an 80th-minute substitute as Aalborg beat Hobro 2-1, after coming on for Portuguese midfielder Pedro Ferreira.

The Kenya international came on when the scores were 1-1 after Jakob Ahlmann had equalised for Aalborg in the 41st minute after going down in the first minute through Frederik Mortensen’s strike.

Aalborg were fortunate not to go 2-0 down as Danish forward Muamer Brajanac missed a 36th-minute penalty for Hobro.

The away side would snatch all three points at the death when Kasper Poul Molgaard Jorgensen scored the winning goal for Aalborg in added time to hand Odada a winning debut.

Ten minutes were not enough for Odada to make an impact but it is a positive sign given his nightmare spell in the United States.

Odada joined Aalborg on a one-year loan deal with the terms of the contract involving a purchase option at the end of the season.

The lanky midfielder has struggled for regular playing time in America after not being included in the club’s MLS roster due to a limit on the number of foreigners allowed to play in the league.

The physically-imposing player primarily operates as a box-to-box midfielder but can also sit in front of the defence.

The 22-year-old former AFC Leopards midfielder joined Philadelphia Union in August 2022 from Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade where he only made two league appearances in three years.

In Philadelphia, Odada has been a bench warmer for the senior side and was forced to contend with spells in the second-string side which was denying him the exposure and experience he had hoped for.