In-form Taiwo Atieno deserved national team call-up

The recent inclusion of England based Kenyan striker Taiwo Atieno in Coach Kimanzi’s provisional line-up for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match against Togo on Feb 29th match elicited mixed reactions from football stakeholders across the country. 

Coach Kimanzi must have been silently tracking Taiwo’s progress in England and judging on his recent performances at club level , the 26-year old striker deserved recognition at the international level too.

Since joining his current club Torquay United at the beginning of this season, Taiwo has had to contend with the pecking order at the club. Striker Rene Howe was always preferred to start while Atieno was  mainly used as a late substitute.

For the last 16 games, Taiwo has only started in four games. A four match ban on the first choice striker Rene Howe suddenly thrust Atieno into the limelight late last year. 

The Kenyan was named in the starting line-up against Swidon late last year, his first start since joining the club in October. He responded with a great solitary strike that handed his club the win and set up a great festive atmosphere at their home ground -Plainmoor Stadium.

Torquay United boss Martin Ling termed Atieno’s first full game appearance as “an excellent all-round performance". This sole game convinced Ling that the striker he had signed after two goals in his first two pre-season outings was a real asset to the team. Taiwo Atieno is now a first team regular.

Last weekend Atieno scored the only goal against Shrewsbury to extend his club’s recent good form to only one loss in the last sixteen matches and put his tally at three goals for the season. His great form has been a blessing to his club and Kimanzi could prove many pundits wrong if Atieno proves himself in the national jersey.

Torquay features in the in NPower League, fourth tier in the English football system and currently sits at fourth place, three points adrift of top placed Cheltenham.

Taiwo Atieno graduated from Walsall academy in 2004. Chester FC, Nuneaton Town, Dagenham & R, Kidderminster (loan), Rochdale (loan), Stevenage, Darlington (loan), Luton Town, Tamworth are among the clubs he has featured for.

He made his Kenyan debut in a match against Mozambique as a late substitute in the June 2009 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. He played the whole match against Bahrain in a friendly then went on to feature against Mozambique in the return leg and also against Tunisia in Tunis.