Michael Olunga of Kashiwa Reysol.Michael Olunga.

Olunga: Fifa ranks Kenya forward among 2020’s little known hotshots

World football governing body Fifa has ranked Harambee Stars and Kashiwa Reysol striker Michael Olunga among 2020's little known hotshots.

Olunga emerged as the top scorer in the Japanese’s J1 League after he scored 28 goals in 32 games and crowned the season with the Most Valuable Player award.

His exploits in front of goal helped Kashiwa Reysol finish seventh in the season despite the fact they had been promoted the previous season, when Olunga also played a critical role as he scored 27 goals to aid their promotion bid.

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Olunga, 26, has played in Sweden, Spain and China but it is in Japan where he has established himself as one of the lethal strikers in the two seasons he has been in the Far East country.

“I attribute the success to hard work and staying focused even when you think everything is lost,” Olunga told Fifa.com in an earlier interview. “It’s about believing you are capable of achieving great things and doing wonders on the pitch.”

Should he stay in Japan, Olunga’s main aim would be to find the back of the net on more occasions than he did in the 2020 season, which saw his star shine even brighter despite it being his maiden appearance in the top flight.

Kenya head coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee, who missed him in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Comoros in November, would hope the former Gor Mahia star maintains the hot form during the 2021 qualifiers.

Kenya will have Afcon qualifiers as well as the World Cup qualifiers and Olunga’s contribution would be needed greatly. The Harambee Stars are in an Afcon qualifier group that also has Togo and Egypt.

In the World Cup qualifiers, Kenya will be involved against Mali and neighbours Uganda and Rwanda in the preliminary round next year.

Olunga, while in Spain in 2018, became the first Girona player to earn a hat-trick.

Others who have been ranked by Fifa along with the Kenya international include Marcel Hernandez of CS Cartagines of Costa Rica. The 31-year-old Cuban scored 31 goals in 40 matches.

Another is Danish 26-year-old Kasper Junker of FK Bodo in Norway, who scored 27 goals in 25 matches. Argentinian Ramiro Rocca, who is turning out for CSD Municipal in Guatemala, scored 26 goals in 27 matches and got himself on the ranking list.

The 24-year-old Estonian forward Rauno Sappinen of FC Flora Tallinn also had 26 goals which were registered across 28 matches and earned a place in the rankings too.

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