Rwanda Coach Reveals Why He Wanted Veteran Kenyan Goalkeeper Arnold Origi on His Coaching Staff

Former Harambee Stars coach Adel Amrouche has revealed that he came close to appointing veteran goalkeeper Arnold Origi to his technical bench in Rwanda.

Amrouche has been coach of Rwanda since March this year and they still have a chance of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, if they can win their remaining two qualifiers against Benin and South Africa, while results elsewhere go in their favour.

Former Harambee Stars first-choice goalkeeper Origi could have been part of the Amavubi coaching setup had he agreed to Amrouche’s request as the highly experienced tactician wanted him to help finetune his shot stoppers.

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Amrouche says Origi’s personality and professionalism won him over when he was Harambee Stars coach between 2013 and 2014 and he had sought to benefit from his knowledge and experience but the player opted to continue playing.

“I asked Arnold Origi [to be goalkeeper trainer], he is still playing now but I had asked him to be the goalkeeping coach [in Rwanda] because I saw the profile of Arnold and he is still playing at a high level in Europe,” Amrouche told Pulse Sports.

“It is good when you have a goalkeeper who played at a high level with a good personality, and a professional, as goalkeeper trainer.”

Origi, now 41, is still going strong playing for Swedish side Ostersund although he briefly served as Harambee Stars goalkeeper trainer under interim coach Francis Kimanzi before Benni McCarthy took over early this year.

Amrouche coached Kenya for 18 months, guiding them to the 2013 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup title, but was sacked after Harambee Stars were bundled out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers following a humiliating 1-0 aggregate loss to minnows Lesotho.

He, however, sought legal redress and the Court of Arbitration for Sport would order Football Kenya Federation to pay him Ksh108 million for wrongful dismissal.