David Owino: Utility back

This week’s player of the moment is David Owino

David Owino was born in Nakuru town and spent his formative years in Flamingo Estate Nakuru. His started his career playing for Nakuru All Stars, then known as AC Nakuru.

David Owino had been a solid defender for Karuturi sports club. He was signed primarily to help shore up the defence after the departure of fan favourite Eric Masika who left to join arch rivals AFC Leopards. Owino has proven more than an able replacement. He is a solid utility player capable of playing effectively in central defence, in defensive midfield or at full back.

His ability  as a full back was on display when Kenya played against Nigeria in a world cup qualifier early ion 2013. Owino was assigned the difficult task of marking Chelsea based Victor Moses. The Nigerian winger was a handful to deal with but Owino acquited himself well chasing Moses all day, closing him down and foiling Moses when he had a clear shot on goal and looked certain to score. Owino earned himself the nickname “Calabar” on that day because the match was played in the town of Calabar.

But Owino is equally adept upfront. He has proven that he has a knack for scoring crucial goals. None was more crucial than the goal he scored against AFC Leopards during the second leg of the 2013 season. He calmly controlled a high ball from Kevin Omondi and with defenders closing in on him, he slotted the ball to the far corner of the net to score the equalizer in the waning moments of the game.

Owino was one of the most consistent players in Kenya during the 2013 and 2014 season’s a feat that saw him named defender of the year for both years.

He has also been nicknamed “Jashirati” in honour of the legendary Tanzanian musician Daniel Owino Misiani whose ancestral home was Shirati in Northwestern Tanzania and was often referred to as Owino Jashirati.