PHOTOS: McDonald Mariga & Other Football Celebrities Who Celebrate Their birthdays in April

Born on 4th April 1987, Mariga, who is the elder brother to Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder and Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama, currently plies his trade in Italy where he plays for Serie B side, Latina.

Mariga stole the limelight when he became the first East African to win the much coveted UEFA Champions league trophy, with Italian giants Inter Milan in 2010 under Jose Mourinho’s guidance.

Hailing from a footballing family, the 6ft 2in defensive midfielder started his playing career at Ulinzi Stars before moving to Tusker FC and then to Kenya Pipeline while still in school.

He then went to Sweden where he played for Enköpings SK and Helsingborgs IF between 2005 – 2007, before joining Parma FC establishing himself as one of the world’s best defensive mid-fielders prior to joining Mourinho’s Internazionale.

At Inter, Mariga became the first Kenyan footballer to play in the Champions league when he entered the field as a late substitute against Chelsea in March 2010.

Under Mourinho’s tutelage, he went on to win; Serie A: 2009–10, Coppa Italia: 2010, 2011, UEFA Champions League: 2009–10, Supercoppa, Italiana: 2010, FIFA Club World Cup: 2010, making him one of the most decorated African footballers of all time.

As we celebrate our very own Mariga, we take a look at other famous footballers who will be celebrating their birthday this month.

Sami Khedira

Sami Khedira is a German footballer who plays for Juventus and the German national team as a central midfielder. He actually not only shares the same birth date with our very own Mariga, but the two are age mates!

The world cup winning midfielder turned 30 on April 4th 2017.

Kaka

Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany was born on April 10th 1986.  Since his arrival at City back in 2008, the Belgian international has won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two league cups and one FA Community shield cup.