Former Harambee Stars midfielder McDonald Mariga has fired back at his ex-team-mate Jamal Mohamed over his sentiments that he failed to ‘connect’ him and other players to teams in Europe.
During a past interview, Jamal claimed Mariga and Dennis Oliech are among Kenyan players who were privileged to play for teams in major leagues in the world but failed to help others back home reach such levels, by not putting in a good word for them.
However, Mariga has dismissed those sentiments as an excuse from players who failed to make the cut in Europe while reminding Jamal that players have no powers to decide whom teams sign.
“Many players hide behind this. Musa Otieno has many brothers but he did not take any of them to South Africa. I played at Inter Milan and Parma, my brothers are all footballers, I did not take anyone there because it is not my father’s team or my team,” Mariga said on Radio47.
“When I was at Parma, Francis Ouma who was top scorer here, then playing for Mathare United, came to Parma for trials. His agent brought him, he did trials and it did not go well.
“But when he came, we lived together in the same house. My mother was there, she would cook and we would eat together.
“That is what West Africans do. They come for trials and instead of letting them struggle with where to stay, they host them. That makes them comfortable during the trials.
“You cannot take anyone anywhere, Oliech too has brothers who are footballers, he did not take any of them to France.
“If players had the right, I would never have played at Inter Milan or Parma. Javier Zaneti, Estaban Cambiaso would have brought in players from Argentina who were probably better than me. Or how many players from Cameroon would Eto’o have brought?”
Mariga, a 2010 Champions League winner with Serie A giants Inter Milan, then denied sharing an agent with Jamal while terming the former Harambee Stars midfielder as one who had many opportunities to succeed in Europe but failed.
“He said we shared an agent, I do not know the agent we shared with him. When I was playing in the third division [in Sweden], he did trials at five first division teams and he was not successful,” added Mariga.
“When I went to the first division, he came again, did other trials. He is the player who has gone for more trials in Kenya. No one has had possibilities like him.
“But because it did not go well, he wants to hide behind others. That is why West Africans are ahead of us because they admit when things do not go well. Coming from Kenya to a higher level is tough so people should just accept when it does not go well.”
Mariga, who featured for Tusker and Kenya Pipeline, started his European adventure in Sweden when he played for Enkorpings followed by a one-year stint at Helsingborgs IF in the same country.
He would then join Parma in the Serie A where he played for three years before Inter Milan came calling in January 2010, days after the player had missed a chance to sign for Premier League side Manchester City.
Mariga later returned to Parma following a loan stint at Real Sociedad in Spain and also turned out for Latina and Real Oviedo.
Former Mathare United midfielder Jamal, meanwhile, also started out at Enkorpings before stints in Kuwait, Romania and Oman followed.
