- Kenyan international Arnold Origi left Harambee Stars despite being Kenya’s most remarkable goalkeeper of his time. He attained Norwegian citizenship in 2017.
Origi cemented his place as an outstanding goalkeeper after he took over the boots from Francis Onyiso. He represented Kenya well for close to four years.
The landmark moment of his career was when he made his debut against Ghana in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in 2005.
His last game for Kenya was when Harambee stars handed Guinea Bissau 1-0 defeat at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi on March 27, 2016, unfortunately, he missed out on eight Afcon and four World Cup qualifying tournaments.
His decision to switched allegiance to Norway led to numerous speculations. Origi shares his career plans and the reasons why he made the courageous decision to dare abroad.
“The fact that what the Norwegian passport offers. Personally, having a European passport puts you on the market and makes you available and accessible to people from different markets, who could not access you when you only had a Kenyan passport,” Origi said.
“That was really important for me. If you have to develop then you have to be accessible to different kinds of markets. If you want to achieve your dreams as a football player – It was time for me to put myself in that market to be accessible. He added.
“I felt it was a key that would help me open doors and would enable me to get resources in terms of knowledge and material that I could take and bring back to Kenya and help the young guys who look up to me as a role model. Explained the goalkeeper.
Origi’s long-term plan is to nature talents as he stated: “That’s why I do it for the kids, I love the kids. I play football because I inspire these kids. When I get merchandise or purchase I can always be able to bring them back home. The joy on these kids’ faces gives some an immense amount of energy when I come back to Europe.”
