How Michael Olunga become Al-Duhail’s record scorer

By Peter Ochieng

The year is coming to an end on a great note for national football team, Harambee Stars captain Michael Ogada Olunga, as far as club football is concerned.

The 30-year-old ‘Engineer’ as he is known in football circles, is the record goal scorer for Qatar Super League (QSL) side, AL-Duhail with 121 goals.

Olunga achieved the feat on Friday, November 01, 2024, when his side thrashed Al-Shamal 6-2, with the former Gor Mahia forward reaching the record breaker goal with his strike in the 23rd minute, the second for Al-Duhail after Lucas Verissimo had put his side ahead in the 11th minute.

He has scored 8 league goals for his team this season, and he is currently ranked second behind Shamal’s Baghdad Bounedjah who has converted 11 times.

His goals have propelled his side to top of the table, as the team seeks to successfully defend the league title it won last season.

A close look at the striker’s football journey indicates that he has literally been a journeyman, featuring for sides in Kenya, Sweden, China, Spain and Japan before joining Al-Duhail in 2021 on a three-year deal.

The Liberty Professionals Academy product played for Kenya Premier League sides – Tusker FC, Thika United and Gor Mahia on loan from the academy – owned by former Harambee Stars coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee from 2013 to 2016, before his big breakthrough came with the 2016 transfer to Swedish side, Djurgårdens IF.

Blessed with height, speed and a dangerous and powerful left shot, the lanky forward was always destined for great achievements on the field of play, with his goal-record at Al-Duhail cementing the long-standing belief that he had all it takes to excel.

Starved of enough game time at Djurgårdens IF, Olunga played for only a season in Sweden. He matched his 27 appearances with 12 goals, an indication that he was a lethal striker who could cause much damage to opponents if given enough game time.

He moved over to the Chinese Super League side, Guizhou Zhicheng for the 2017/2018 season. That was the period Chinese Super League sides were splashing money for purchase of players from around the globe.

His stay was short-lived as he was promptly loaned to Spanish La Liga side, Girona. In January 2018, Olunga made history, becoming the first Kenyan to score a hat-trick in Spain's La Liga as Girona beat Las Palmas 6-0.

He came off the bench to score in the 57th, 70th and 79th minutes as he became the first player to record a top-flight treble for Girona.

Perhaps sensing a lack of enough game time at Girona, Olunga elected to join Japanese league two side Kashiwa Reysol in 2018, when all indications pointed to the fact that he was not part of the Chinese team’s future.

At Kashiwa Reysol, he will be remembered for scoring 8 goals as his team thrashed Kyoto Sanga in a league two encounter. He has however taken his game to another level at Al-Duhail, being crowned top scorer for both the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons.

His accolades include winning the winning the Kenya Super Cup and the KPL Top 8 Cup with Tusker FC in 2013, two premier league titles with Gor Mahia in 2014 and 2015, the J2 title with Kashiwa Reysol in 2019 and the 2022/2023 QSL title, the 2023 Qatar Stars Cup and the 2022 Emir Cup with Al-Duhail.

His 2024 disappointment will of course be failing to lead Kenya to the 2025 AFCON, to be staged by Morocco from December 2025 to January 2026.