Kenyan internationals and brothers Victor Wanyama (L) and McDonald Mariga at a past Harambee Stars match [PHOTO/michezoafrika.com]
Kenyan international McDonald Mariga has revealed the pivotal role he played in the football dream of his brother Victor Wanyama.
In an interview with ESPN, Mariga said that their father Noah Wanyama (AFC Leopards legend) taught them how to always stay united and that he saw Victor's potential while still young.
"Victor could have been the best player of us [brothers]. I thought that when he was small. When you're little, you don't have a mind for tactics. You just play for play. You want to dribble past everyone. He was like that," he said.
"Growing up, they said, 'You have to help your brothers'. We would play football together and maybe at school you would finish first but you'd have to wait for Victor to come home together, things like that," he added.
He revealed the physical presence he offered in Victor's young life, always being there to protect him from other big boys.
“Sometimes you were playing and you would see someone kick your brother, you feel bad and go to stop it. Even now, we speak every night on Skype. Maybe we don't talk on the day of the game so he can concentrate, but we send messages like, 'Hey, have a good game'. But after the games, we always talk. We discuss how it was. When I don't have a game, I always watch Victor's,” Mariga said.
He said that the moment he landed his first European team, he introduced the youngster to the Helsingborgs Chairman who then agreed to allow Victor to train with them.
“I went to the chairman of the club. He was friend, he liked me so much and I said, 'My brother plays in Kenya, can he come here and train with the second team?’ He said it's no problem.
“I wanted Victor to stay with me because I was alone. He helped me a lot. I had my brother and we were going to training together and coming back home together and talking. Before it was very difficult for me because I was alone and it was very cold in Sweden. But with Victor being there, I was very happy. Everything was going smoothly. He did well and everything was just simple and easy,” he added.
He however says he had to make a tough decision on Victor after he (Mariga) was signed at Parma. He had to leave the want-to-go brother.
“He wanted to come but I went to Parma on loan for six months, and I told him no. I had to do good for that time so I could stay at Parma. If I didn't do good, I would have to come back to Helsingborgs. I was determined because it was my dream to play in Italy, so I told him he had to stay alone at Helsingborgs. I thought it was good for him to be independent,” he continued.
After he debuted for Harambee Stars in 2007 and excelled, Victor attracted more agents who tore him between Belgium, Russia and Scotland. Again, it was Mariga who came handy in making the decision of where Vic would go.
“The agents all wanted to help him. One wanted to take him Belgium, one wanted to take him to Russia. I wanted him to stay in Europe at Helsingborgs or in Belgium. But Russia, no, I didn't want that. I didn't think about racism, I just wanted him to be very close, so I could visit him. It was good he went to Belgium.
“Henrik Larsson came to Helsingborgs, we played together and he said, 'Maybe I can help you go to win some titles at Celtic'. As we were talking about it, Parma came in, so I chose the first option. So when Victor called me, and he had a chance to go to Celtic, I said it was very good.”
Mariga currently plays with Latina in Italy.