Gor Mahia midfielder dreams big after Caf goal

Gor Mahia defensive midfielder Sydney Ochieng' says his first goal in the Caf Champions League has motivated him to work hard and cement his place as regular at the club as he targets a call up to the national team.

Gor beat Rwanda giants APR 3-1 in the Saturday clash at Nyayo Stadium to progress to the first round 4-3 on aggregate. The 19 time Kenyan Premier League champions had the previous Saturday lost 2-1 in the first leg at Nyamirambo Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda.

The 23-year-old midfielder was a second half substitute for Bernard Ondiek and together with Clifton Miheso, who replaced Ugandan born-South Sudan striker Tito Okello, had a superb performance combining in the two goals scored by K'Ogalo at death to eliminate the Rwandese who were on course to qualify.

The former Tusker player headed home Michael Apudo's cross in the 92nd minute to keep K'Ogalo in the game.

Two minutes later, another substitute Nicholas Kipkirui unleashed a strong header from Miheso's corner to score the winner for Gor in the entertaining clash attended by a handful of fans due to tough measures put in place by government to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Ochieng', who joined K'Ogalo in the August transfer window, says he will build on the goal and the impressive performance to be an outstanding player not only for Gor, but even Harambee Stars.

"The sky is the limit for me. I feel very delighted since it was my first goal in the Caf competition and it played a part in giving the team a win.  It was a tough game but it was good we never lost hope and showed a great fighting spirit after they got the equaliser with a few minutes to go," Ochieng' told Nation Sport.

"Maybe my time has now come and I have to work hard to not only to start games at Gor, but also achieve my dream of playing for Harambee Stars. This will only be possible if I work hard and learn more from my coaches and team mates," added Ochieng'.

However,  this was not Ochieng's first match in the Caf Champions League. He was part of the Tusker squad which participated in the competition after winning the Kenyan Premier league title in 2016.

He played for the brewers from 2016 to 2020 and also turned up for Western Stima for six months before moving to Gor Mahia in August. At Stima, under the tutelage of coach Salim Babu, the defensive midfielder scored four goals and was a regular starter for the KPL side.

The former Kisumu Day student nurtured his talent as Kisumu's Palos FC before his stint with Tusker and Western Stima.