When Gor Mahia hammered Chemelil Sugar FC 4-0 in January 2020, the headlines were left for striker Sammy Onyango who bagged a hattrick on the day but not for coach Steve Pollack.
The Englishman was so impressed by opposing midfielder John Ochieng that he recommended the player to the Gor Mahia management but a deal couldn’t materialize later that month after Chemelil requested the player to stay until the end of the season to help them avoid relegation; a goal that wasn’t achieved.
While Chemelil sunk, Ochieng got his wish in June of that year when he joined the Kenyan giants on a two-year deal and while things didn’t go as he planned in the first season, joining Gor for the player was already a dream realized.
“My move to Gor Mahia ought to have happened earlier but I didn’t lose hope as I knew that it was just a matter of time. Playing for them was a dream since I was a child,” Ochieng opens up to Pepeta.
While Gor gave him the needed spotlight, Ochieng’ is quick to thank Chemelil Sugar for the role they played in his career after coming into his aid following an unsuccessful stint at Tusker FC.
“Chemelil came to my rescue at a difficult time in my career. I had just signed for Tusker when Sam Timbe (the late) was the coach but he had a squad of his own. I had trained with them for a week and he was very categorical for me that I wasn’t to play a lot of games but I wanted to play regularly. I talked to Coach Baraza (Francis) who was his assistant then about my ambitions and he secured a loan deal to Chemelil. We had a lot of financial troubles at Chemelil but I was playing regularly and that’s how people who had not watched me came to know my abilities. So I have to thank them (Chemelil) for the platform,” Ochieng says.
Stepping a ladder up to Gor was never going to be easy but Ochieng had his dreams;” When you grow up in Kisumu, Gor Mahia has to be your team by default so signing for them was a dream but again I knew the work that I had to put in to be started because they were the best team in the league. I knew that if I did well then, more doors were going to open so when the chance came to step up. I took it with both hands and never looked back.”
Ochieng had deals when he was to leave Gor Mahia last year and knew that he would be going pro after Portuguese side Portuguese club Valeo Nazaré Futebol Sad and while everything was in place for the move, he decided to move to Zambia.
“Valeo had everything ready for me and mentally I was already in Portugal. What happened is my VISA came a week to the closure of the window in Portugal. The team had invited me for a two week trial earlier that month and if everything went well, I would have known my fate with them before the window closed.
“But here was a situation where even if I traveled, they were to sign me six months later because the window was to shut even before the end of my trials and I didn’t want to stay out for that long so when the Zanaco deal came, I jumped to it because they had enquired about me about the same time Valeo sent an inquiry,” he says about the turn of events.
Despite the change of environment, Ochieng feels at home in Zambia and hasn’t found it to adapt to their football owing that a chunk of Kenyans plies their trade in the same league too.
“There is no difference in the football that is played in Zambia and that of Kenya. There are players I have faced here before and we have a Kenyan community which has made my adaptation easier. Im doing my best here and hopefully, we can achieve great things together with the team,” he adds.
On his national team dreams, the combative midfielder believes that his day will come as long as he will be doing the right things at his club.
“I am one person who believes in his abilities. I want to play for the national team one day and I believe with consistency, that will be achieved soon. I just have to continue working hard and hope that these efforts will be rewarded by a call-up,” he opines.
Ochieng and Zanaco are currently gearing for the second half of the Zambia Super League season where they are scheduled to take on Mufulira Wanderers on Saturday 17th February as they seek to add to their 27 points which has left them in eighth position.
