The ex-KCB, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards striker is carving out a coaching career for himself in Canada after an injury forced him to stop playing earlier than he had hoped.
Paul Mungai Kiongera was a household name in Kenyan football, becoming a revered striker particularly during his stint with KCB, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards.
Kiongera starred for KCB, earning him a move to Gor Mahia and then Tanzanian giants Simba SC.
It is at Simba where he sustained a career-threatening injury that disrupted his playing career and even though he returned home and featured for his former team KCB, AFC Leopards, Ushuru, Sofapaka and later Wazito FC, he was not the same striker that used to score goals for fun.
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With the injury forcing him to cut short his career, Kiongera relocated to Canada with his family and it is here where he is carving out a career in coaching.
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Kiongera now works as a youth coach and from a clip posted online, the former striker can be seen and heard issuing instructions to young players with great precision.
“In football is how you create space and exploit the space. As a striker, nobody will give you space, you have to create it by yourself. Your movement creates space,” Kiongera is heard telling the young players, who are listening carefully as he gives them attacking tips.
“So, any time I am in between, what do I do towards the ball? It has to be quick then you create the passing angle because if I show the ball my back, then it becomes difficult.
“So, I have to make sure as I am creating the angle, I am also seeing whatever is happening there [where the ball is]. Because if I give the ball my back, I must be running and we have lost the ball, they are hitting us on the break.”
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For Kiongera, a Friends School Kamusinga alumnus, this is not something he got into by chance or luck, but rather what he prepared so well for.
While playing in the Kenyan Premier League, the 36-year-old was also pursuing a degree in Psychology and Sociology and had acquired CAF Level ‘C’ Coaching License by the time he left Kenya for Canada.
Kiongera got more coaching knowledge from the Barcelona Academy, where he acquired a Level 1 Coaching Certificate, and these, added to his Diploma in Psychological Development of Athletes, are proving vital in his current role as a coach.
The Kenyan forward will be hoping to work his way through the ranks and get a coaching job at a senior team in the near future.
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