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The ex-striker fears Kenya may never produce another player of Victor Wanyama’s calibre due to a number of factors affecting the country’s football.
Former Harambee Stars forward Taiwo Atieno fears that Kenya may never produce another player like Victor Wanyama due to the lack of football structures in the country.
Atieno, who was born in England but opted to represent Kenya, says Kenyan football is at a crossroads and needs massive changes before it can start producing world beating footballers again following years of neglect.
“Kenyan football is at a massive crossroads. It cannot continue down this path. To make football sustainable, something drastic must change. Otherwise, we may never see another Victor Wanyama not because he’s not there but because he wasn’t coached or trained in the right environment,” Atieno explained via a social media post.
“Recently, I was watching the attached YouTube highlights of my former teammate Victor (Wanyama); what a player! A fast, strong, combative box-to-box midfielder who scored his fair share of goals. I shared his highlights from Celtic with investors to showcase the incredible talent Kenya has to offer. The recurring question is: ‘Where is the next one?’ And honestly, it’s a fair question.”
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17:38 - 16.12.2024
Victor Wanyama: How my first Harambee Stars cap against Nigeria prepared me for the big stage
After nearly two decades, Victor Wanyama reflects on his unforgettable debut for Kenya against Nigeria, marking a historic journey.
“Over the past 25 years, players like Dennis Oliech, Victor Wanyama, and McDonald's Mariga have risen from Kenya to compete in top leagues with combined transfers of 50 million euros. But with a population of 55 million, shouldn’t we be producing far more?”
Atieno is worried that football is losing out greatly to other careers in the country as talents who could otherwise make good footballers are opting to do something else as football is not as attractive as it should be.
“With all due respect to today’s Kenyan players, we’re either coaching talent out of the game or losing them to other careers in the military, police, or elsewhere. Because I often see Kenyan soldiers or police officers and think; ‘You could have been the next Victor Wanyama, Patrick Vieira, Yaya Toure, or Didier Drogba’. Many are built like trains and have great athletic potential,” he added.
“Over the past seven years, I visited 20 or so counties in Kenya, and what I discovered was truly eye-opening. We have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of boys and girls with extraordinary athletic potential. Yet, most of them attend schools with inadequate—or entirely absent—sports facilities.
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06:14 - 31.12.2024
Harambee Stars interim coach Francis Kimanzi identifies best way to fix national team’s woes
Harambee Stars interim coach Francis Kimanzi has explained how Kenya can best fix the problems bedeviling the national team following years of underachievement.
“Take the top three counties, Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa, for example. The sports infrastructure is severely lacking. The new Paddle courts aside, where are the 5-a-side pitches, professional club academies, Sunday leagues, and amateur leagues? Grassroots football has been entirely neglected for the past 15 years.
“But why? Kenya’s GDP has grown significantly, the data and online data shows Kenyans love football, and we spend more time online than almost any other nation in the world. So why has there been no meaningful investment in football?”
Born in Brixton, England to a Kenyan father and English mother, Atieno honed his skills at Walsall before later turning out for lower division teams in England such as Rochdale, Chester City, Rochester Rhinos and Luton Town among others and made his Harambee Stars debut in June 2009 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Mozambique.
The 39-year-old retired 10 years ago having made five appearances for Kenya and also had a short stint in the US opting to return to the country and venture into sports administration.
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