Michael Okoth Origi (born 16 November 1967) is a Kenyan retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Initially playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

he converted to a striker at Shabana, a position that he would feature in for both club and country. He spent most of his professional career in Belgium, while at international level he represented the Kenya national football team on 48 occasions between 1989 and 2004, scoring 17 goals. He is the father of Belgian international footballer,

Divock Origi Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan. Following 8 July 2024, he is no longer part of their first team squad, and currently trains with and is listed in the squad ...

Club career

Okoth started his football career with Itierio Secondary School from where he was spotted by Shabana. He would feature for Shabana in the Kenyan Super League and at continental level in the African Champions Cup. In 1992, he moved to

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

i club Al Boshar and after the Africa Cup of Nations K.V. Oostende of the Belgian Second Division. He would experience success with Racing Club Genk winning the 1998–99 Belgian First Division and the 1999-00 Belgian Cup. Okoth would end his career in 2006 playing in the

Belgian Third Division The Belgian Third Division (, ) was the third highest level in Football in Belgium, Belgian football. It had two leagues of 18 teams each (Belgian Third Division A, A and Belgian Third Division B, B) at the same level. This competition, originall ...

with K.S.K. Tongeren and later with Cobox 76.

International career

Okoth earned his first international call up in the 1989 CECAFA Cup turning out for a Kenya 'B' team. He would represent the Harambee Stars in the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. :''Scores and results list Kenya's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Origi goal.''

Personal life

Okoth is of Luo ethnicity. His older brother Austin "Makamu" Oduor Origi was a defender and captain for Gor Mahia and the Kenya national football team. His younger brothers would also feature in the Kenya Super League, Anthony Origi for Kenya Breweries and Gerald Origi for Utalii FC.

Arnold Origi Arnold Otieno Origi (born 15 November 1983) is a retired Kenyan professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and current goalkeeper coach of Östersunds FK, Östersund. He was one ...

, his nephew and son to Austin Oduor is a

for Norwegian

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

side

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger ...

and the Kenya national team. His son

is also a professional footballer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Origi, Mike 1967 births Living people People from Murang'a Men's association football forwards Kenyan men's footballers Kenyan expatriate men's footballers Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in Oman Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Oman Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Tusker F.C. players K.V. Oostende players K.R.C. Genk players R.W.D. Molenbeek (1909) players K.R.C. Zuid-West-Vlaanderen players K.S.K. Tongeren players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Kenya men's international footballers 1990 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players Shabana F.C. players