Ibrahim Wanzala is not your ordinary 17-year old. Popularly known as Babu amongst his teammates at Kakamega Homeboyz, the lanky goalkeeper has made history at the club by being the youngest ever to be handed a debut.He believes he is just getting started, eight appearances down the line.‘’Being signed by a top tier club was my biggest achievement or so I thought, but starting a match a couple of weeks later was more than that. You get cold feet at first but once your’e in the game, everything flows and the nerves go calm,’’ says the lad who earned his debut away to high-flyng Nzoia Sugar FC on 8th January, a game that ended 1-1Having been Geofrey Oputi’s understudy throughout the season, Wanzala was thrown into the fold against the league leaders- and far away from home. He stood out, keeping the hungry sugar millers at bay for the entirety of regular time, conceding in the every last minute.Six new faces training with Gor Mahia‘’We had won the match and everyone had put in the shift, we were finally going to put down a tough opponent until one last minute mistake saw them equalise. But as they say, you learn from your mistakes and focus on the next,’’ Wanzala continues.##NAJAVA_MECA_7006669##The lad, who is still at school in Busia Township, showed up in Homeboyz’s next seven matches. A consistency that has seen him lock down first position between the sticks at the club. He admits that he needs to keep more clean sheets if at all his name will appear in the awards podium at the end of the season.‘’We always play well as a team but our opponents sometimes snatch victory right at the end or pick up a draw. It’s my responsibility and the defence to work on this and give our forwards a reason to put in more goals,’’ concludes Wanzara whose side currently lies eighth on the log.Five promising Kenyan footballers whose talent risks going to wasteThe youngster has featured for the Harambee Stars U17 side and terms Homeboyz’s away victory to Wazito as his best performance so far. He has previously played for lower-tier side Mayenje Santos FC.
