Meeting your favourite football star is not an accomplishment easy to achieve.
Some of these stars have made visits to Kenya in their capacities as players or as brand ambassadors.
Teamkenya.co.ke takes a look at instances when prominent footballers came to Kenya and what they were up to.
Samuel Etoo
In 2012, the former Barcelona star visited Nanyuki to open his academy, the Laikipia Unity Football Academy built to foster unity, peace and wildlife conservation in the region.
Eto'o partnered with the Zeitz Foundation, Laikipia Wildlife Forum and commercial ranches and conservancies in setting up the academy.
The school has since continued to achieve success in local football tournaments, among them the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom tournament where they reached the Central Kenya finals in 2019.
Robbie Fowler
The Liverpool legend came to Kenya as a brand ambassador for Absa bank.
Fowler held engagements with Absa bank customers and went to hold a football clinic for young players at the Camp Toyoyo grounds alongside Harambee Stars legend Musa Otieno.
Fowler also shared his career experience as well as business ideas with selected university students under the bank’s Ready-to-Work programme.
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Divock Origi
Born to Kenyan parents, Mike Okoth and Lina Adhiambo, Origi grew up in Belgium and ended up even playing for the Belgian national team.
He has made several visits home, nonetheless. His latest was in 2018, just before the 2018 Russia World Cup kicked off.
Origi, who spoke Swahili in an interview then, revealed that it was not his first time in Kenya and that meeting his folks here overjoys him.
Theo Walcott
While playing for Everton, Southampton star Walcott visited Kenya in 2019 for a friendly match against FKF Premier League side Kariobangi Sharks. The match was sponsored by a betting firm.
The former Arsenal star was treated to a drive in a customised matatu commonly referred to as Nganya, and also enjoyed a game drive at the Nairobi National Park alongside his teammates.
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Thierry Henry
The Arsenal great came to Kenya in 2017 courtesy of a global campaign. Henry interacted with fans and also held interviews to discuss Kenyan football.
Mohamed Salah
Salah first came to Kenya in July 2019. At the time, he was on transit, and only stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn along Mombasa Road for less than 12 hours before he caught his next flight.
His second trip to Kenya was in March last year with the Egyptian national team in a match against Kenya in the Afcon qualifiers.
Salah played the entire 90 minutes of the match that ended 1-1 and even visited Kenyan players in their dressing room to congratulate them.
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