How midfield king Ogada gave fans reason to hope again

Gor Mahia fans during Gor Versus Shabana at Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu Mamboleo. [Michael Mute, Standard] Kenya has produced great midfielders who could feature for any professional side and shine. The irony is that some of them like Daniel Ogada was even overlooked for the national team call up in the 1990s. The Gor Mahia midfield kingpin stepped into the club when Abbas Magongo was fading off. No wonder the 1990s generation of Gor Mahia fans branded him the best midfielder ever. They decided to let the memories of Allan Thigo Wuon Pap, Charles "Engine" Otieno and Abbas "Zamalek" Magongo to deliberately fade off. The reason is Ogada played for Gor Mahia at the onset of IMF instigated Structural Adjustment Programs. Parastatals that employed Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards' players most on CSR retrenched a good chunk of their employees. The economy was also not performing so support from fans dropped. In this despair, Ogada gave fans a reason to smile and hope again. Ogada joined Gor Mahia in 1991 around the time the "greatest generation" of the eighties was leaving. Magongo left for Oman, George Onyango Fundi, George Nyangi Odembo and others left due to pressure from their employers. Ogada grew up in Majengo area, the rusty roof and rugged houses with minimal space to run around was a perfect environment to instill ball control and dribbling techniques. He had great ball control and an eye for space such that he would tell his teammates that if he gives you pass and you find yourself under pressure, just return the ball. He went to Eastleigh High School in the mid-80s where he shone in the secondary schools' championships. He featured for Pumwani Sportiff while still in school and then joined Iqbal FC after completing his secondary school education. It is from Iqbal that he joined Gor. He joined K'Ogalo as a backup in 1991 when Len Julians, who had returned or his second stint as coach, lead Gor to the league title. Creative midfielder Felix Otieno and defensive midfielder Allan Odhiambo were the preferred midfielders, but Ogada settled in well. He got a few games but come 1992, he slowly became a regular. Ogada is tall and well-built which helped him to keep the ball off his opponents. His ball control, confidence and cheeky dribbles saw many players wear his "kanzus" distinguished him in the local football scene. He was effective as a defensive midfielder, efficient in central midfield and entertaining while in both. He won over the demanding Gor Mahia fans who nicknamed him "Dunga", "Oga", "Masaro" and "Ogaso". He was the midfield maestro who led a midfield that won titles for Gor in an era when their expectations kept dropping season after season. That midfield had Tom Okaya, Zoelem Teshome, Pius Wamaya and Allan Odhiambo. It is a midfield that broke down opponents as well as tormenting defenders. Ogada was known for his outfoot long passes placed exactly where his teammates wanted the ball. Bonventure Maruti, Steve Odiaga, Steve Okumu, Dan Shikanda, Mike Otieno were beneficiary of his pinpoint passes. He was instrumental in Gor Mahia's 1993 and 1995 league titles. Bob Oyugi was the coach in 1993 when Gor won the league. Ogada was also there in 1997 when Utalii FC grabbed the league title from Gor Mahia on the last day fixtures. Ogada played in the 1992 CAF Cup of Champion ties against Al Itihad of Libya and Cannon Yaounde of Cameroun. Gor managed to see off their opponents but fell at the Quarter Finals against Al Hilal of Sudan on post-match penalties. That year, AFC Leopards' controversially defeated Transcom FC by seven goals to one to deny Gor the title. Dan Ogada played the four matches against Zamalek in the 1990s. He was in the midfield as Gor Mahia held Zamalek to a 1-1 draw in the second round of 1994 CAF Cup of Champions. They lost the return leg 2-1. Eric Obura scored the goal in Nairobi and Dan Shikanda scored in Cairo. Abbas Magongo had returned from the Middle East to feature for Gor against Zamalek but Gor suffered near similar fate to what they had gone through 10 years earlier. He also featured in 1998 when Gor defeated Zamalek 1-0 in Nairobi. Steve Okumu scored the lone goal. However, Gor crumbled in Cairo going down by four goals to nil. Ogada was very much the centre pole upon which Gor Mahia play revolved. All through the 1990s, Ogada was at Gor as they lost the 1996 Cecafa Club championship quarter finals to Simba SC by one goal to nil. They had led Group B that had Yanga of Tanzania and Express SC of Uganda. The irony is he got only one national team cap, on October 11, 1996 at home against Guinea. This was down to Serbian Vojo Gardasevic who was national team coach. He had led Gor Mahia to the 1995 league title and so he knew Ogada well.

How midfield king Ogada gave fans reason to hope again

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How midfield king Ogada gave fans reason to hope again

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