Bob Munro 'Mwangi' made me who I am today- Dennis Oliech

Dennis Oliech is not done with soccer yet. He has not hanged his boots despite some quarters having written him off after his lengthy sabbatical.

He told The Nairobian that he was only taking a break to recover from a knee injury and in the meantime, he's fine pushing the Betway brand.

Besides returning to pro soccer, Oliech plans to take up coaching, football leadership and charity explaining "Coaching in future is not a problem for me just that I have many things I am thinking of doing. I may even decide to go for the federation’s presidency. I am looking forward to many things including charity."

Oliech credits his success to Bob Munro, the Mathare United chairman recalling that, "My best moment was the day I met Bob Munro. We call him Bob Mwangi. Bob has helped a lot of players in Kenya."

He narrates how he was signed to Al Arabi of Qatar from Mathare United after a number of moves were lined up for him, including one to try out with an English Premier League side, which he declined to reveal.

He says he decided to consider a deal that looked more likely hence opting for Al Arabi, which was engineered by the then Kenya Football Federation (KFF) supremo, Hussein Swaleh.

"I was doing well at the time and yes Bob (Munro) had planned for me a tryout with an EPL side but there was also this one being worked on by Swaleh so I decided to take the one that was ready other than wait for what I was not sure of," he reflects.

The same chance came when he was at Auxerre in France but after spending a week in Kenya seeking the Visa to travel to UK, he was denied and had to pass the chance again.

Based on his experience, he advises youthful players targeting playing abroad to get their act right and work only with reputable agents.

He advises the upcoming players to make international moves when they are between 17 and 20 years, “otherwise it can be really tough.”

Oliech moved to Qatar in 2003 at the age of 18.