‘Very Good Endurance’ - Real Sociedad Coach Hails Unique Athletic Qualities of Kenyan Forward

Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has praised Harambee Stars forward Job Ochieng for bringing another dynamic to his team following his Man of the Match performance on Monday.

Ochieng was the hero for Sociedad as they survived late pressure to secure a dramatic 3-2 win over Elche in a La Liga match away.

The Kenyan winger opened the scoring after 11 minutes before he created the second goal and although Elche would level matters in the second half, Ochieng’s assist for Luca Sucic’s goal at the death won it for Matarazzo’s side.

Ochieng was not just about the goal and assists but played a key role in both defence and attack as he worked hard off the ball, was strong in one-on-one situations and made lots of vertical runs in behind defence.

When Sociedad went down to 10 men with 30 minutes remaining, he offered defensive cover by bombing down the right wing to track back runners and make forward runs, shielding his team from conceding more, while creating opportunities for his teammates, something his coach is in awe of.

“Job is a very interesting athletic physical profile,” Matarazzo told the media after the game. “He is not just fast and can run 35km, he can repeat that very often in a match. He has very good endurance.”

“He is someone who understands what we need. He understands his strengths and I feel he used it very well today until the end of the match,” the tactician further stated.

Reflecting on the match, Ochieng admitted the game became more difficult when they had a man sent off, forcing him to sacrifice some of his attacking talents to help out in defence.

“Whatever happens we give our all. They pushed us a little bit further back to defend and we need to defend when we have these situations and it was a great game, I got a goal as well,” Ochieng told LaLiga TV.

The Kenyan forward was making his second start of the season having been promoted to the Sociedad senior team this term and he looks to be earning the trust of his coach by every game.