- McDonald Mariga
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McDonald Mariga 
Personal information Full name McDonald Mariga Wanyama Date of birth 4 April 1987 Place of birth Nairobi, Kenya Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Playing position Defensive midfielder Club information Current club Real Sociedad Number 18 Youth career Kamukunji High School Ulinzi Stars 2003–2004 Tusker 2005 Kenya Pipeline Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2005–2006 Enköpings 1 (0) 2006–2008 Helsingborg 37 (6) 2007–2008 → Parma (loan) 18 (0) 2008–2010 Parma 44 (3) 2010– Inter Milan 21 (1) 2011– → Real Sociedad (loan) 10 (0) National team‡ 2006– Kenya 27 (3) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 October 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 February 2010McDonald Mariga Wanyama (born 4 April 1987) is a Kenyan footballer player who plays for Real Sociedad on loan from Inter Milan. Mariga made history as the first Kenyan footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League on 16 March 2010.[1]
Contents
Club career
Early career
Mariga started his playing career at Ulinzi Stars before moving first to Tusker FC and then to Pipeline FC while still at school.[2] Mariga was a member of the Kamukunji High School 'Golden Boys', which also included Kenyan striker Dennis Oliech (Auxerre, France), who won two consecutive National Championships in 2002 & 2003.
The central midfielder went to Sweden in 2005 to play for third Division side Enköpings SK. After only one season at ESK, he signed for Helsingborgs IF before the 2006 season. His success at Helsingborgs was immediate.[3] Following initial interest from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, Mariga looked set to sign for the Premier League team, but work permit issues held up the deal which was supposed to have cost around €2.7million.[4]
Parma
He moved to the Serie A club Parma initially on loan in August 2007. The Italian club had an option to buy him in the summer for a fee of 20 million Swedish kronor (around €2million).[citation needed] Mariga agreed to a four year deal to keep him at Serie A side Parma for four years until the end of June 2012, after the club paid a transfer fee for Swedish Kronor 18 million (approx. 1.94 million euros). The deal, brokered by former Swede great Martin Dahlin, now an agent, falls short of the 20 Million Kronnor asking price initially set by Helsingborgs. 25% of the transfer fee will go to Enkopings SK, the club that first got Mariga to Sweden in 2005.
Mariga played 35 times for Parma in the Serie B during the 2008–2009 season scoring three times to help them back to Serie A for the 2009–2010 season.
In January 2010 he was set to sign for English Premier League club Manchester City, but he failed to obtain a work permit.[5] It was later stated by Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga that 22-year-old Mariga had eventually obtained a UK work permit but only after the transfer window for the Premier League had closed. Had Mariga successfully signed for Manchester City, he would have been the first player from the Premier League-mad East African country to sign for a club in the top English league.[6]
Inter Milan
On 1 February 2010, the last day of the transfer window, Mariga moved to Inter Milan in a co-ownership deal however he initially attempted a big-money move to Manchester City until a work permit was turned down by the Home Office. The transfer fee was a cash plus player deal which Parma got half the registration rights of Jonathan Biabiany and the loan of Luis Antonio Jiménez.[7][8] Following the move, Inter president Massimo Moratti hailed Mariga's move as the "best thing that could have happened" to the club in the January transfer window.[9] He made his debut for Internazionale in the 1st leg of the 2009 Coppa Italia Semi Final against Fiorentina. Inter narrowly won the match 1–0. In March 2010 Mariga became the first Kenyan to play in the UEFA Champions League, when he entered the field as a late substitute against Chelsea.[10]
Mariga thought he scored his first goal for Inter on April 24, 2010 against Atalanta when he netted Samuel Eto's back pass into the roof of the net. However his shot deflected off Sulley Muntari and the goal was credited instead to the Ghanaian. He also scored a thrashing header against Genoa for the Nerazzuri in a game that ended 3-2.
In June 2010, Inter bought him outright and bought back Biabiany for a reported fees near to €9.5M.[11][12]
On the 30th of July, McDonald played against his brother's new club, Celtic, In the Dublin Super cup, a new friendly tournament. His brother did not feature at all in the Inter game but played on the following day against an Airtricity League XI, where Celtic Won 5-0.
International career
Mariga scored his first international goal for Kenya against Swaziland on 25 March 2007.
Club statistics
Club Season League Cup Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Enköpings SK 2005–06 1 0 - - - - 1 0 Total 1 0 - - - - 1 0 Helsingborg 2006–07 37 6 0 0 - - 37 6 Total 37 6 0 0 - - 37 6 Parma 2007–08 18 0 0 0 - - 18 0 2008–09 35 3 0 0 - - 35 3 2009–10 9 1 2 0 - - 11 1 Total 62 3 0 0 - - 62 3 Inter Milan 2009–10 8 1 2 0 3 0 13 1 2010–11 12 0 6 1 3 0 21 1 Total 20 1 8 1 6 0 34 2 Career Total 12 1 2 1 3 0 17 0 Honours
- Internazionale Milano
- Serie A: 2009–10
- Coppa Italia: 2010
- UEFA Champions League: 2009–10
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2010
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2010
Personal life
His father Noah Wanyama, a left winger, played for AFC Leopards and the Kenyan national football team. Mariga's younger brother Victor Wanyama is also a professional football player currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Celtic F.C., while another brother Thomas Wanyama plays for the Kenyan Premier League champions Sofapaka, Another brother Sylvester Wanyama Plays for the Kenya premier league club Sony Sugar. Their younger sister Mercy Wanyama is the captain of Langata High School basketball team, previously she played football and netball. Mariga is the most celebrated Kenyan soccer player of all time [13]
References
- ^ "Mariga makes history". BBC News. 17 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8572670.stm.
- ^ "Mariga’s failed dream move to Man City is an indication of the rot in local football". The Standard. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000002225&cid=243&j=&m=&d=. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
- ^ "McDonald Mariga". SvFF. http://svenskfotboll.se/allsvenskan/person/?playerid=4653. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ Redknapp ends interest in Mariga
- ^ Daily Nation, February 1, 2010: Mariga's Man City transfer suffers setback
- ^ Kenya Prime Minister Odinga pushed for Mariga permit
- ^ "Mariga signs for Inter". inter.it. 2010-02-01. http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=33181&L=en. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ Mariga joins Inter after Man City move collapses
- ^ Moratti delight at Mariga deal
- ^ The Standard, March 20, 2010: Local players and fans should learn from Mariga’s exploits
- ^ "LEONARDI: BOJINOV A TITOLO DEFINITIVO" (in Italian). Parma FC. 16 June 2010. http://www.fcparma.com/stagione/archivio-primo-piano/6995-leonardi-bojinov-a-titolo-definitivo.html. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- ^ "Ufficiale: l' Inter ha riscattato Mariga e Biabiany per 10 milioni" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 17 June 2010. http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/2010/giugno/17/Ufficiale_Inter_riscattato_Mariga_Biabiany_ga_10_100617034.shtml. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- ^ Daily Nation, February 12, 2010: Mariga’s sister wants to play in the top league
External links
- Real Sociedad official profile (Spanish)
- Transfermarkt profile
- McDonald Mariga at National-Football-Teams.com
- McDonald Mariga – FIFA competition record
Real Sociedad – current squad 1 Bravo · 2 C. Martínez · 3 M. González · 4 Elustondo · 5 Bergara · 7 Griezmann · 8 Llorente · 9 Agirretxe · 10 X. Prieto · 11 Aranburu (c) · 13 Zubikarai · 14 Sarpong · 15 Ansotegi · 16 Demidov · 17 Zurutuza · 18 Mariga · 19 Cadamuro · 20 Illarramendi · 21 Ifrán · 22 D.Estrada · 23 Vela · 24 De la Bella · 25 Toño · 26 I. Martínez · 27 Rubén Pardo · Manager: Montanier
Categories:- 1987 births
- Living people
- People from Nairobi
- Kenyan footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Tusker F.C. players
- Allsvenskan players
- Enköpings SK players
- Helsingborgs IF players
- Serie A footballers
- Serie B footballers
- Parma F.C. players
- F.C. Internazionale Milano players
- Real Sociedad footballers
- Kenya international footballers
- Kenyan expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Sweden
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
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