Gonzalez: Dad wants me to play for Harambee Stars

Some time in the mid nineties, a Kenyan man in his early twenties embarked on a journey from Mombasa to Spain in search of “greener pastures.”

He’d been referred over there by a friend who’s acquaintance had promised to host him. 

“He was not comfortable with the life he was living in Kenya and was looking for employment and money to help him survive. He also wanted to uplift the standards of living for his family,” Harambee Stars midfielder Ismail Gonzalez explains. 

The young man then, known as Said Athman or “Billy” to his close friends, would go on to find a temporary home in Madrid, the country’s capital, and also home to Real Madrid, Europe’s most successful football club. Some years later, Billy, now a trained acrobat, landed a formal job at a comedy, circus and entertainment joint in Camalia, an island near Madrid.

It is while at his work place that he would meet and fall in love with a Spanish lady named — wait for this — Mercedes — who happened to frequent the venue during her pastime. 

A couple of years later, Gonzalez would be a product of the love story between Billy and Mercedes. 

So Gonzalez is the Kenyan international who cannot construct a sentence in Kiswahili, nor can he get to any address in his home country without help from someone or a GPS device. 

Because he has lived in Spain all his life. 

Equally, the 23-year-old’s English is understandably poor, a situation that immediately heralds a communication problem between us even as I settle for this interview at the balcony of his apartment, room number 303 of the Le Vizir Parc and Resort in Marrakech, where he’s been called up for national team duty by Harambee Stars stand-in coach Stanley Okumbi. 

Thankfully, we both settle to consult the online translation app google translate, where need be. 

“We are a small family of four. I have a half-sister who also is my friend and everything. She is Christine, and works as a nanny in Madrid,” says Gonzalez. 

Gonzalez seems an easy-going lad at face value, light skinned, slim built, but tall, and chubby.

He laughs a lot even as I struggle to pick his mind.

In camp and during meals, he is always reserved, save for the company of Gor Mahia’s Francis Kahata, a player he consistently refers to as his “best friend.”

Apart from his self confessed support for Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia, love for ‘Ugali’ and ‘Chapati’ and the national team colours he is donning during this interview, I struggle to see anything else Kenyan about him. 

He admits to spending his early days with his parents, sibling and maternal grandmother before commencing his football career at the age of seven when his dad, an ardent football fanatic, took the decision to enroll him at the Mas Palomas Academy. 

'WON THE FIGHT'

Eight years later, he had to make a critical decision between a professional football career and in his own words — an office one. 

“In Spain, you cannot play football full time and still study, so my mum wanted me to go to high school but I said no.  

I later won the fight and joined the Las Palmas Academy, full-time, to continue with my football education. 

“I enjoy football. That is me, David. I am football. That is why I am here (in Morocco). To play football. I have no regrets about this decision.”

His football journey has since taken him through some lower tier clubs in Spain namely Vecindario, Las Palmas, Cacereno, Granada and his current work-station at Fuenlabrada. 

“Las Palmas keep loaning me out to other clubs even when I am playing well for the team when called up, I think it is time to move on and witness another challenge. I am currently on loan (at Fuenlabrada) but I don’t think I will be renewing my contract (at Las Palmas) when it expires in June,” Gonzalez admits, albeit with a touch of frustration. 

Very few Kenyans, if any, had heard of him the first time he was called up for national team duty.  

The player attributes his call-up and his Kenyan chance to his dad’s “dream.” 

“For some reason, my dad really wants me to play for Kenya. He keeps pushing me. One day he told me the coaches here had seen me play and wanted me to come and join the Harambee Stars.

“I accepted because I did not want to let him down. He has done a lot for me and he would have been very disappointed.”

This led to his first ever call-up for Stars in 2016. 

It also led to Gonzalez’s first journey to Kenya, coming 25 years after his dad had made the famous opposite journey to Spain.

The trip to Kenya would, however, treat him to a complete culture shock. 

“I couldn’t believe some of the things I witnessed in Nairobi. Kenya is very different from Spain. There is a lot of noise from cars and people.

“ Sometimes I saw so many people crammed in a bus. Some passengers would get into the bus when it was still moving. The city is congested all the time. The food in Kenya is good. I love Ugali and Chapati very much. But the training grounds are not so good."

“This experience has taught me to appreciate what I have and maybe this is what my father wanted me to learn.” 

With Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and Kenya captain Victor Wanyama as his role model, Gonzalez, who’s main ambition is to play in the Spain’s top flight league, otherwise known as the La Liga in the near future, also describes the Africa Nations Cup qualification game against the Republic of Congo in Nairobi as his toughest in national team colours yet. 

“Those (Congo) players are very strong. Africa football is tough with a lot of body checks and tackles. In Spain the play is far less physical but with high intensity, pressing, technique and quick decision making.” 

“I want to try and transform Kenya into one of the best national teams in Africa. I want us to play at the Africa Nations Cup and World Cup.”

That includes helping Kenyan players get opportunities to play in Spain. 

“I am impressed with the abilities of a number of players in the national team. I have spoken to my agent about them and he also likes them.

“He says there is a possibility he can get them opportunities to play in Spain.”

“Back in Spain, my teammates do not know about Kenya. But they encourage me to come and fight for the shirt. Defend the country’s badge and honour. They ask me to bring Wanyama and (Michael) Olunga’s signed jerseys and scarfs.”

Gonzalez is reported to have fallen out with the football chiefs, leading to his brief stint out of the team for the better part of last year.

He, however, has a different version of events.

“I requested for the president (of Football Kenya Federation) to purchase me a business class ticket when I am coming for national team assignment. This is because the journey from Las Palmas to Nairobi is long and tiresome. I fly two hours to Madrid, two and a half hours to Holland (Amsterdam) and then eight hours to Africa (Nairobi).

“On one occasion, I hurt my knee flying economy because there was no leg room. The federation say there is no resources and I say it is okay. Dad told me I continue playing for Kenya so it is okay.”

An established deep lying midfielder, Gonzalez is expected to fill in on the right hand side of defence in the friendly matches here against Comoros and the Central Africa Republic.

“Whenever I play for Kenya, my dad’s friends call him and tell him that I played well. This makes him very happy and in return I am also happier,” he concludes.