Victor Wanyama - Player of the Week

Wanyama sends Southampton to second place!

Victor Wanyama scored a sensational goal to give Southampton a 1-0 win away to Hull City. This victory was Southampton's seventh win in their last eight matches, and they stay in second place in the Premier League table - only 4 points behind Chelsea. Southampton are this season's surprise team, and after 10 matches have only conceded 5 goals, which is the lowest in the Premier League, and only Chelsea have scored more goals than 'The Saints'. Wanyama's goal arrived after only 3 minutes and was a beautiful lob from nearly 40 metres, after a mistake from Hull City's goalkeeper. There were no more goals and Southampton continue their early season chase of Chelsea at the top of the table.  

"We're going to win the league." Southampton fans singing after their 1-0 win against Hull City.

Where is Wanyama from?

Victor Wanyama was born on 25 June 1991 in Nairobi, which is the capital of Kenya. He spent his youth career with clubs in Kenya and a short spell in Sweden. Wanyama's first professional club was Beerschot AC in Belgium, who he signed for in 2008. After 3 years in Belgium he moved to Scotland to play for Celtic. Wanyama had a very successful spell in Scotland, in his first season he helped Celtic to the Scottish League title and his second season was even better. In 2012/13, Celtic won the League and Cup double and Wanyama was voted Scottish Young Player of the Year.

"I will say it's the best goal I've ever scored. I've never scored from that far." Victor Wanyama talking about his goal against Hull City.

How is he playing for Southampton?

In July 2013, Wanyama signed for Southampton for around £12.5 million. When he made his debut the following month, he became the first Kenyan to play in the Premier League. Southampton had a good season in 2013/14 and finished in 8th place, but Wanyama only played 24 games because of injuries. This season Wanyama has helped Southampton to second place and has scored three goals already. All 3 of his goals have been special:

• v Swansea (20 September) Wanyama became the first Kenyan to score in the Premier League.
• v Sunderland (19 October) Wanyama scored the seventh goal as Southampton beat Sunderland 8-0. This is a Premier League record for Southampton and only Man Utd (9-0 v Ipswich Town 1995) have won a Premier League game by a bigger margin.
• v Hull City (1 November) Wanyama scores one of the goals of the season from nearly 40 metres to give Southampton a 1-0 victory. 

How many nationalities have played and scored in the Premier League?

From Albania to Zambia and from China to Venezuela the Premier League has been represented by countries from all over the world. Over 100 nationalities have played for Premier League teams. But, not all of these players have scored, and Victor Wanyama's goal against Swansea meant Kenya became the 91st different nationality to score a Premier League goal. All Premier League teams have a mix of nationalities in their sides, but the most goalscorers in one match from different countries came in 2009 when Arsenal beat Blackburn Rovers 6-2. The goalscorers were:

What is the goal of the season so far?

Victor Wanyama scored an amazing goal against Hull City and it is a contender for goal of the season, but there have been many fantastic goals already this season. Which has been your favourite? Here are three of our favourites:

• Graziano Pelle (27 September Southampton v QPR) scored a fantastic overhead kick to win the game for Southampton.
• Phil Jagielka (27 September Liverpool v Everton) scored with a last-minute long-range shot to give Everton a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside Derby.
• Erik Lamela (23 October Tottenham Hotspur v Asteras Tripolis) scored a sensational 'rabona' style goal, when he put his left leg around his right leg to score from 20 metres.

Watch a video of Victor Wanyama talking about his great goal against Hull City.

What did you understand?

Match the numbers to the correct sentence.

Match the numbers

Activity 1:  In this activity, think about what you read. Can you match the numbers to the correct statement?

Match the types of goal with their definitions.

Types of goal

Activity 3: Victor Wanyama scored with a lob from nearly 40 metres. In this activity, look at the types of goals and see if you can match them to the correct definition.

Did you know.......?

• Wanyama comes from a sporty family. His brother is also a footballer (Parma in Italy) and his sister is a basketball player in the USA.
• Wanyama made his debut for Kenya when he was only 15.
• He is now the captain of the Kenyan national team.
• Southampton manager, Ronald Koeman, played nearly 200 times for Barcelona. 
• Southampton's nickname is 'The Saints' because, in 1885, they started as a church football team.
• Southampton's highest ever finish in the top division was second, in 1983-84.