Michael Olunga


Michael Olunga is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays for Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol and the Kenya national team as a forward.

Club career

Early career and Gor Mahia

While still a student at the Upper Hill School, Olunga began his career with the Liberty Sports Academy in the Nairobi County League. He scored 32 goals for the side during the 2012 season, helping them finish the season unbeaten and earn promotion to the Nairobi Provincial League. He made headlines when he scored seven goals in a single match helping his team to an 8–0 win.
Initially reported to be attending trials in France, Olunga signed for Kenyan Premier League side Tusker on a one-year loan deal from Liberty on 19 December 2012.
After finishing the 2013 season with two goals for Tusker, Olunga was loaned to fellow Premier League side Thika United for another year, before joining Gor Mahia before the beginning of the 2015 season. He finished the season as the club's top scorer in the league with 19 goals to help the side win a record 15th league title without losing a single match, including the second goal in a 2–0 win over Muhoroni Youth on their final league match of the season.

Djurgården

On 17 February 2016, Olunga joined Swedish side Djurgårdens IF on a four-year contract, after joining the team's pre-season training camp on trial. He scored his first two goals for Djurgården on 8 August 2016 against IFK Göteborg in a 3–1 win. He was also named man of the match and Djurgården coach Mark Dempsey praised him for his match winning heroics. In the next match Olunga scored once again in the 2–2 draw versus IF Elfsborg at the Tele2 Arena. On 27 August, he scored the match-winning goal against Gefle with a volley in the 86th minute. In the last 12 games of the Allsvenskan Olunga scored 12 goals which earned him a fifth place in the Allsvenskan top scorer table. He was nominated for Newcomer of the year in Swedish football by a jury of Allsvenskan coaches and Swedish journalists as well as the coaches of the Swedish national teams. The prize later went to Alexander Isak.
On 10 November 2016, Kenyan football site Soka reported that Djurgården had turned down offers on Olunga from La Liga side Betis, Lokeren, Belgium champions Club Brugge and Swedish champions Malmö FF.

Guizhou Zhicheng

In 2017, Olunga joined Chinese club Guizhou Zhicheng.

Girona (loan)

On 1 September 2017, Olunga was loaned to La Liga side Girona FC, for one year. On 13 January 2018, he made his La Liga debut against Las Palmas scoring a hat-trick in the span of 22 minutes during a 6–0 win, becoming both the first Kenyan player and the first Girona player to score a hat-trick in La Liga.

Kashiwa Reysol

On 10 August 2018, Olunga joined Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol.
On 24 November 2019 he scored eight goals for Kashiwa in a 13-1 victory over Kyoto Sanga.

International career

Olunga made his debut for the Kenya national team in a friendly against Seychelles at the Stade Linité in Victoria on 28 March 2015. He scored his first goal for the Harambee Stars in a friendly against South Sudan which resulted in a 2-0 win. On 27 July 2019, during the 2019 AFCON Olunga scored a double to complete a comeback against Tanzania.

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 June 2015Amahoro Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda2–02–0Friendly
2.30 May 2015National Heroes Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia1–01–22017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3.7 October 2015Stade Anjalay, Belle Vue Maurel, Mauritius5–25–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.13 November 2015Nairobi City Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya1–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.22 November 2015Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia2–02–02015 CECAFA Cup
6.25 November 2015Awassa Kenema Stadium, Awassa, Ethiopia1–11–12015 CECAFA Cup
7.4 October 2016Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo1–01–0Friendly
8.23 March 2017Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos, Kenya1–01–1Friendly
9.26 March 2017Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos, Kenya1–02–1Friendly
10.26 March 2017Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos, Kenya2–12–1Friendly
11.10 June 2017National Stadium, Freetown, Sierra Leone1–21–22019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
12.5 October 2017Basra Sports City, Basra, Iraq1–21–2Friendly
13.27 March 2018Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco2–32–3Friendly
14.14 October 2018Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, Kenya1–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
15.15 June 2019Centro Deportivo Santa Ana, Madrid, Spain1–01–1Friendly
16.27 June 201930 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt1–13–22019 Africa Cup of Nations
17.27 June 201930 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt3–23–22019 Africa Cup of Nations
18.14 November 2019Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt1–11–12021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Personal life

Olunga studied geospatial engineering at the Technical University of Kenya and pursued a Bachelor of Engineering degree. For this reason, he is regularly known as "The Engineer" by Kenyan football fans. He has stated that he looks up to Dutch striker Robin van Persie as a role model.

Honours

Club

;Tusker FC
;Gor Mahia
;Kashiwa Reysol