Widely-travelled footballer Peter Opiyo is back in the local scene after six years of playing professionally in Qatar and Finland. The playmaker, popularly known as ‘Pinchez’, now turns out for National Super League side Nairobi City Stars.
The one-time Premier League champion rose to professional ranks in 2014 after featuring for high profile local clubs such as Gor Mahia, Tusker,AFC Leopards and Thika United before flying out to Finland to join FF Jaro. This would be the inception of an industrious professional career in Europe and Asia.
Having built a name for himself on the domestic front, it was time for Opiyo to ply his trade abroad, a move he says felt like he was starting all over again because of the sub-par standards of football in Kenya.
“There are things we do not do right in the country, and this is mostly on the people who handle players (agents, advisers). That is why when players go abroad, they do not usually go into the big leagues from the start. They have to go to small football countries and maybe start in second division teams to be taught basic techniques such as passing the ball. It is almost as if you are starting all over again,” said the former Kenyan international.
However, the once born-again playmaker does not entirely blame the handlers, insisting that the budding players have their work cut out if they want to play abroad.
“The players have a lot to work on, starting from their attitudes because playing professional football is not easy,” he said.
The former Harambee Stars midfielder featured for Al Markihya in Qatar and played a part in helping the team to a higher division. He disapproves the notion that the plush league is a walk in the park, saying that there were challenges as well.
“Every league is hard to play in. In Qatar, they hire the best coaches with good credentials. The main challenge was that they depended on professional players more than the domestic ones. It is something they kept reminding us as the professional players; that it was up to us to perform and make the team better,” he said.
While in Kenya, Opiyo made appearances for the national team and reveals that it was upon him to build a profile for himself as a footballer despite being a Kenyan international.
“Kenya is mostly known for athletics. So people will only respect you as a football player if you prove yourself,” Opiyo said. “But I managed to impress the coach (Aleksy Eremenko), who I first worked with in Finland at FF Jaro, so he called me when he got the job at SJK Seinajoki.”
The 27-year-old joined the NSL league leaders, City Stars, on an 18-month deal and concedes that despite being open to further his playing career, he is mainly focusing on life after football.
“I am still focused as a player, I am not just playing for fun. But right now I am focused on what will come after my football-playing days,” he said
His playing days abroad gave him an epiphany on how much the local game has to work on, saying that it lacks in many capacities such as the tempo of the game and also the lack of quality in the playing surface.
As such, he mentors his budding teammates on various aspects of the game. On whether he yearns to return to the international fray, Pinchez leaves it to fate.
