Those doubting Omala's goals should ‘swallow a razor blade’
Gor Mahia striker Benson Omalla (bottom) celebrates after scoring during their Football Kenya Federation Premier League match against AFC Leopards at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani on October 7, 2023.
What you need to know:
- We as the Green Army will no longer stomach any more of this nonsensical debate on the goals scored by our dependable and capable striker
- Instead of hating on Omala all the time, the loud-mouthed bloggers should look for something better to do with their time
- Just for the record, let me remind the haters that Omala plundered 26 goals last season and has so far netted 10 this season
Most English football fans have never forgiven football great and Argentine legend, the late Diego Armando Maradona, even in death.
Maradona, who died on November 25, 2020, is best remembered for the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal he scored against England in a tantalising quarter-final contest at the 1986 Fifa World Cup in Mexico.
As if in jest, an unapologetic Maradona then scored one of the best goals ever at the World Cup after he slalomed through the entire English team from the halfway line to hammer the final nail on the hapless Three Lions’ coffin.
While Maradona’s second goal was a work or art, it is the ‘Hand of God’ goal that has to date remained the basis of the bitter rivalry between England and Argentina.
As a striker, didn’t Maradona do his job? If you ask me, yes. Many decades before the introduction of VAR, who was to blame for that controversial goal? Maradona or the referee? Of course the referee.
Back home, there has been a raging debate on the goals scored by our talisman and goal poacher Benson Omala in the Kenyan Premier League.
Some mouthy bloggers on the payroll of our opponents have been all over social media claiming that Omala can’t score genuine goals in a well-officiated competitive match. The instances they claim the 22-year-old scored offside goals are the 2-0 win over AFC Leopards during the Mashemeji Derby (October 7, 2023), the 1-0 win over Tusker (October 22, 2023) and a last-minute match-winner against Kariobangi Sharks two weeks ago at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos.
Omala's haters have also taken issue with the penalties he has been converting. To justify their unsolicited opinions, the debate always shifts from Omala netting offside goals to him dispatching penalties.
Let me set the record straight. Omala is a player, not a referee. Why all the hate on a player who is performing his duties on the pitch, which is to score goals?
Anyone who feels Omala scores goals that shouldn’t stand should only question the match officials. Certainly not Omala!
We as the Green Army will no longer stomach any more of this nonsensical debate on the goals scored by our dependable and capable striker. In fact, Omala is at liberty to score from any angle and use any part of his body. So long as the goals stand, we don’t have any problem.
The haters can hate as much as they like, but they will not take away Omala’s talent and his razor-sharp goal-scoring instincts. Instead of hating on Omala all the time, the loud-mouthed bloggers should look for something better to do with their time.
Not long ago, they chided our boy for being a ‘flop’. They went as far as claiming Omala can’t even control balls, citing that as the reason why Omala was always being overlooked for national team duty.
But guess what? Omala has since silenced them after scoring in Kenya’s 5-0 thumping of Seychelles in the 2026 World Cup qualifier last month. So why all this witch-hunt against a player who is scoring the goal both for club and country?
If these haters can’t stand Omala, they’d better brace themselves for more agony, what with the lethal striker’s younger brother, Duncan, steadily following in his footsteps.
Just for the record, let me remind the haters that Omala plundered 26 goals last season and has so far netted 10 this season. Beware! He is well on course to surpass that mark.
