Mohamed from Kenya

Hi everyone! My name is Mohamed and I'm a Tottenham Hotspur fan from Nairobi in Kenya. I'm the oldest in a family of eight living in Korogocho slum in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. I have five brothers and two sisters. My second sister is a student at Kenya Medical Training Centre studying to become a community health nurse. My brothers are at primary and high school and we often meet at the end of the day, at my mother's place where we eat and help each other with our school work. At the end of the day, we always share our academic and life challenges as a family. 

My country is...

... beautiful and the nation with the biggest population in East and Central Africa. Kenya has a stable economy, is very popular with tourists, has great weather and has had lots of sporting success on the world stage. Kenya hosts millions of tourists every year due to its beautiful landscape and the Maasai Mara which is among the Seven Wonders of the World. Tourists come from all over the world; especially in June and July to witness thousands of wildebeests crossing the Mara River.

As I am a Muslim, my favourite holiday is the Eid celebrations. It takes place after Ramadan – the Muslim fasting month. This is my favourite time of the year because I normally visit the local sports stadium to join hundreds of Muslims to celebrate this momentous day through prayer. After prayers, I visit the less fortunate in my community in order to share and eat the little we have.

My favourite food is...

... spaghetti but people in Kenya love Ugali (a dish made of maize flour, millet flour or sorghum flour cooked in boiling water to make a firm dough-like consistency). I normally eat rice for dinner and this is because it is easy and fast to cook effectively and efficiently but on special occasions, I eat spaghetti together with my family or guests. Most people in my country prefer Ugali for dinner because it gives you the energy to work for a long time without getting hungry.

In Kenya, people play football... 

...  in the local community and in national stadiums such as Nyayo stadium in the heart of Nairobi city. They also watch football at home through on satellite TV. They also visit pubs, bars and cinemas to watch the Kenyan Premier League and the English Premier League. I play football in Korogoch - an area of Nairobi. I'm also a football coach, I train under-11 teams in my community. I achieved a lot as a player and I still play at the county level and I believe giving back to my community is a source of inspiration for me. I believe that giving back to my community can help produce the best players like Victor Wanyama who now plays for Tottenham in the Premier League.

My best football memory...

... is when Manchester United under 15s visited Kenya. At that time, I was playing for Mathare United under-15s, a local youth team from Nairobi and we played a match against the United team that included Danny Welbeck who went on to play for the Manchester Utd first-team and now plays for Arsenal. The match was on national television and it was so exciting for me and my family who could watch me play against Manchester United!  I shook hands with some of today's great names of the Premier League. We lost the match four goals to one (4-1) but was a very competitive match for us and when we scored our only goal, it was a moment not to forget and it felt like I had won the World Cup and UEFA Champions league at the same time! We all ran around like crazy!

My football hero is....

... Mauricio Pochettino. I have tremendous respect for him both as a player and now as the manager at Tottenham Hotspur. He is a symbol of hope for me. I like the way he conducts himself in front of everyone. He is good at encouraging his players to be at their best during every match. His achievements are amazing as a coach. Now he is doing a great job because he has great managerial skills and interpersonal skills. He is great at approaching players and encouraging them. He is admired by so many people in England and the world. 

I am a passionate fan of...

... Tottenham Hotspur. This is because the team is full of young blood who potentially have great careers ahead of them. Tactically they are very compact and skilful in every situation.

Under Mauricio, Tottenham play a quick, vertical style based on aggressive transition: win the ball high up the pitch and recycle it quickly. The team is very talented. Every player motivates his teammates and that is why they had a great season.4 Tottenham are very popular in Kenya and one of the great success story we have as a country is that the Kenyan National team head coach was invited by Tottenham for a week coaching clinic under Mauricio Pochettino.

People in Kenya love the Premier League...

... because the Premier League provides fans with the reward of football after a tiring week at work. While football fanatics in Kenya may be thousands of miles away from the Anfields, Emirates and Old Traffords of this world, their passion for the English Premier League remains at fever pitch. Week in and week out, millions of fans across Kenya get together at sports bars, cook out joints, cinemas and homes to fill up on their weekly dose of the English Premier League. Every fan hopes that their top-of-the-lungs yelling and expert comments may have an impact on the game. 

For years, Kenya has had fans of only a handful of soccer teams, mostly Manchester United and Arsenal. However, nowadays you find more and more Tottenham fans, with the number of Chelsea and Manchester City growing, too. Liverpool fans make up a surprisingly small amount of the soccer-supporting fan base in Kenya.

Kenya is proud to...

...  talk about the National team skipper and Tottenham defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama, who is featuring in the English Premier League. But, my favourite Tottenham player, and in fact my favourite in the EPL, is Christian Eriksen. A skilful and very hard working player.

My favourite football quote is...

Football goals are attained not by strength but by perseverance.

Six things you might not know about Kenya.

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