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FORBES AFRICA SPORT ottenham Hotspur and respectful. fans call him ‘The “He didn’t have much to Beast’. In Swahili, say,” she laughs. “But he was a Wanyama means good boy, and he did well in his Tanimals; to the Luhya tribe to final exams. And he was huge which he belongs, the appel- for his age, as big as his teacher lation is more impressively at the time.” specific – he is ‘the one born A few hundred yards up the when an animal was slaugh- road nestles Wanyama’s old tered in celebration’. Spurs fans secondary school, cowering have indeed had much to be behind the ubiquitous Nairobi thankful for since the Ken- construction sites with their yan midfielder’s arrival from laborers’ bellows and Hadean Southampton in June 2016. clang of metal on hot metal. So far this season, Victor Kamukunji is a nursery for the Wanyama has started all of best football talent in the city; Tottenham’s Premier League gifted young players from the fixtures, and is arguably their school train a few blocks away most dependable asset. A at a local estate at dawn before silent enforcer who allows the class, with the most promis- club’s most creative players to ing earmarked early by local pivot and rotate around him, Kenyan Premier League teams Wanyama also has a dusting of and allowed by the school to the artist’s flair so beloved at link up with their clubs during White Hart Lane. His pass- class time, provided academic ing choices are deceptively targets are met. simple and considered, and A framed photograph of he recently demonstrated a Wanyama from 2015 – he is ad- competitions. Gakung’u is Wanyama playing for Tottenham Hotspur hidden depth of slick versatility dressing beaming Kamukunji appealing the ban, and argues in Spurs’ January draw at the students in the school court- that a cadre of talented and Victor Wanyama at his old Etihad, dropping back to cen- yard – is the proud centerpiece disciplined youngsters should about their aspirations. school in Nairobi in 2015 ter-half when required against on a table of jostling football not have to endure an inju- “Victor inspired me to play a predatory Manchester City trophies in the office of the rious collective penance. He like him,” says Nchungu. “To side that were ready to profit school’s current principal, assembles the players in the be disciplined. To play in En- had he been less assured in Patrick Gakung’u. school courtyard for a team gland, because there is so much his understanding of football’s “Wanyama was very consis- photograph; they smile shyly competition there.” fluid geometry. tent,” he says. “He was able to in the sunshine as their coach, His captain favors Arsenal; Wanyama’s destiny as successfully blend football and ‘Leopard’ Ngari, reminisces what odds on these two young his country’s most valuable classes. That’s difficult, and it’s about a young, unassuming, men facing off in a future North We’ll Follow football export was forged in something we encourage here. “very hardworking” Wanyama. London derby? the dusty streets of Nairobi, And these young players prefer “Although he was talented, The road to professional Kenya’s electric, bustling, in- this school because we have he was very humble; you never success to date has been a toxicating capital. He attended that element.” saw him say no to others,” he narrow and precarious one THE BEAST St Peter’s Claver Primary, in It’s a delicate balance that says. “When he came back for a young Kenyan player; the infamous Landhies Road can be hard to sustain. The to address the students, he relatively few have made it the area in the old center of the thin line dividing full-blood- repeated one thing: you have to hallowed ground of a club in a city, where matatu drivers, ed enthusiasm and reckless be focused. We are very proud top league overseas. Only eight To Hull And Back market traders and teeth and indiscipline is easily crossed, as of him.” of the current national team skin-whitening peddlers jostle Kamukunji discovered in 2016 Gakung’u gently encourag- squad currently play outside As one of the best African footballers around at the moment, Victor for custom in a chaotic miasma when their goalkeeper’s violent es current team captain Tom Africa, and the UK’s strict and Wanyama is a hero for hungry young Kenyan players. of klaxons and exhaust fumes. overreaction to a refereeing Atieno and attacking midfielder unsentimental points system for His class teacher, Penina Og- decision resulted in a two-year Fiston Nchungu to break from evaluating a non-EU national’s BY ALASTAIR HAGGER Images Ivill - AMA / Getty Catherine by Photo wanyama Victor ony, remembers him as quiet ban from all secondary school the group for a moment to talk eligibility for a work permit is 92 | FORBES AFRICA APRIL 2017 APRIL 2017 FORBES AFRICA | 93 punishing on countries with a ties in Kenya a decade ago. His and later Inter Milan, where he seven-a-side game on a difficult priority. low FIFA ranking. That climate break came when he was scout- became the first Kenyan player dusty surface as new head “Before, it’s been a case of is evolving fast, however. Kenya ed by former AFC Leopards to appear in the Champions coach Stewart Hall, a seasoned wanting to be the best in the vil- has climbed almost 30 places, coach Edward Manoah while League. former Birmingham City acad- lage, not the best in the country. to 87th, in two years thanks playing in a high school tourna- After short stints at Nairobi emy director, observes from That’s been a problem.” to the appointment of former ment for Kamukunji (Wanya- City Stars and JMJ Academy, the touchline. On an adjacent His exhausted squad breaks Glasgow Rangers striker Bobby ma’s disciplinarian father Noah Wanyama at last followed pitch, the Leopards youth team for lunch. There’ll be a second Williamson as manager in 2014, had been a successful and his brother to Helsingborgs. runs through passing drills as session in the afternoon to hone and the dynamic new approach adored left winger at the club, A robust three-year stint at the club’s CEO, Ronald Namai, fitness; the announcement of of the youthful current head and ties between the Leopards Belgian side Beerschot caught outlines a positive but realistic the league’s opening fixtures is coach Stanley Okumbi. In late and the Wanyamas endure). the attention of Celtic, where future for the next would-be believed to be just days away. February, local betting giants “He was a striker then, tall he became the first Kenyan to Kenyan superstars. Kamukunji’s football team “I’ve said to this lot, if you SportPesa, sponsors of the Ken- for his age,” says Manoah. “He score in the Champions League “This year we have actually don’t want to be a serious yan Premier League and English was strong in the air and could in an emotional win against promoted four of the youth traveling to Hull, he insists, will touch, Mao jumps a tackle and Denmark. There’s a Kenyan footballer, I don’t want you top-flight club Hull City, sent hold the ball up well. He came Barcelona. Mauricio Pochetti- team, so we are focused be a Premier League player by hits a fierce shot hard and early in the MLS in the States. And at the club. And I’ll chase you a squad of 18 of the best young on in the second half on his no, then manager of Southamp- on bringing young players 2018. while we watch. because of this, the scouts are away,” he says. “We’ve put in a Kenyan players in the country Leopards debut – and scored ton, brought him to St Mary’s through to the senior squad,” Hall jogs over while the first “There’s some real talent in moving out here and taking recruitment strategy that says to the UK for a training camp the winner.” in 2013, recognizing the qual- he says. “We have constant team takes a break. He points Kenya,” says Hall. “I’m saying kids from here younger and we want to be the youngest and friendly match against the Wanyama’s development ities of diligence, athleticism feedback from schools; if we out Ibrahim Mao, one of the to all my players, now listen, younger.” team in the league. And now Premier League side. Wanyama was rapid. He earned his first and humility that are the hall- identify a promising player, we four recent graduates from the there’s a Kenyan playing in En- He says that fostering the there’s a hunger here. Every- is unlikely to remain the sole cap for Kenya at 15 years old, marks of the Argentine’s team will pay their school fees and youth team. A slender, evasive gland, but also Belgium, Russia, right attitude in these players, body here should want to be Kenyan in the Premier League and quickly emulated the ethic; the move to Pochettino’s they will train with us over winger with an intelligent first Bulgaria, Sweden, Norway, a Wanyama-like focus, is now a Wanyama.” for long (and many Kenyan fans progress of his older brother Tottenham in 2016 seems, in the holidays. What we insist is argue that Liverpool striker McDonald Mariga, another of retrospect, an inevitability. during school days, you must Divock Origi, a Belgian inter- the Kamukunji ‘golden boys’. It’s January 2017, and a be in school.

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