Joe Kadenge: A Legend was born on this day
For a long time, many Kenyan football enthusiasts only heard from oft-repeated oral accounts about the genius of Joe Kadenge.
The legendary Kenya and Abaluhya FC (Now AFC Leopards) winger captured imaginations far beyond national borders. Interestingly, today Wednesday, March 16 marks his birthday (Born March 16 1935).
Kids growing up in the early 1970s were regaled by narratives about how he would dribble past hordes of defenders, and more. 'Kadenge na mpira! Kadenge na mpira! Shoot!Goaaaal!' (Kadenge with the ball, he shoots, he scores!)... was a captivating rendition in the mouths of kids at the time.
The icon had even become a marketing brand name with his name and pictures on adverts, not forgetting the old famous Posta cards.
Kadenge played throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, having his best time in 1966 and 1967 when he won the championship.
He also scored one of the fastest goals in Kenyan Premier League history when he was playing for Maragoli United in the 1963 season, a record that still stands to this date.
Part of the Kenya national team for fourteen years, Kadenge scored 25 goals in 63 matches. The iconic football maestro then retired in 1975 and would later take up technical duties for AFC Leopards alongside Ghanian coach Charles Gyamfi in 1988.
Considered a football genius, Kadenge wasn't tall but robust, a marauding winger who could score and a wizard who impressed thanks to his ball control and dribblings.
He was unmatchable, especially when he tormented the opposing defenders with dribblings and tricks. He was calm, focused, swift and reliable. Commentators never had to explain what Kadenge was doing because the only important thing to know was that the winger had the ball, meaning that something brilliant was about to happen.
In one of his earliest matches with Kenya, he scored one goal and delivered an assist for the second one in the 2-0 win over Uganda in the 1958 Gossage Cup final. His greatness in the country led to the origin of the expression 'Kadenge na mpira' which means 'Kadenge with the ball' - due to his wonderful skills and many runs down the midfield and the attack.
