Michael Olunga Ogada is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail and captains the Kenya national team. Olunga was born on March 26, 1994, in Nairobi, Kenya. He is 29 years old and stands at 1.93 meters (6 feet 4 inches) tall.
Olunga began his football career with the Liberty Sports Academy in the Nairobi County League while still a student at Upper Hill School.
He scored 32 goals for the side during the 2012 season, helping them finish the season unbeaten and earn promotion to the Nairobi Provincial League. Olunga made headlines when he scored seven goals in a single match, helping his team to an 8–0 win
After finishing the 2013 season with two goals for Tusker, Olunga was loaned to fellow Premier League side Thika United for another year before joining Gor Mahia before the beginning of the 2015 season.
He finished the season as the club’s top scorer in the league with 19 goals to help the side win a record 15th league title without losing a single match, including the second goal in a 2–0 win over Muhoroni Youth on their final league match of the season.
On 17 February 2016, Olunga joined Swedish side Djurgårdens IF on a four-year contract, after joining the team’s pre-season training camp on trial. He scored his first two goals for Djurgården on 8 August 2016 against IFK Göteborg in a 3–1 win.
He was also named man of the match and Djurgården coach Mark Dempsey praised him for his match-winning heroics. In the next match, Olunga scored once again in the 2–2 draw versus IF Elfsborg at the Tele2 Arena. On 27 August, he scored the match-winning goal against Gefle IF with a volley in the 86th minute.
In the last 12 games of the Allsvenskan, Olunga scored 12 goals, which earned him a fifth place in the Allsvenskan top scorer table. He was nominated for Newcomer of the year in Swedish football by a jury of Allsvenskan coaches and Swedish journalists as well as the coaches of the Swedish national teams. The award later went to Alexander Isak.
In 2017, Olunga signed for Chinese Super League side Guizhou Zhicheng. He scored two goals in nine appearances before being loaned to La Liga side Girona in January 2018. Olunga scored his first goal for Girona on 11 February 2018, in a 1–1 draw against Leganés. He scored his second goal for Girona on 3 March 2018, in a 2–0 win against Villarreal
Olunga signed for Kashiwa Reysol in January 2018. He scored 58 goals in 72 appearances for the club before signing for Al-Duhail in January 2021. Olunga has been in fine form for Al-Duhail, scoring 59 goals in 58 appearances.
Olunga has also been a key player for the Kenyan national team. He made his debut for the Harambee Stars in 2015 and has since scored 22 goals in 50 appearances. Olunga was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2015 CECAFA Cup, which Kenya won. He was also named the MVP of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, scoring five goals in three matches.
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