Playing as a defensive midfielder calls for certain special skills with ability to tackle well topping the list of what a player in that role should master and perfect. A well-timed slide tackle can get your team out of trouble, but if poorly executed, it can also earn your opponent a free-kick in a dangerous position, or even a straight penalty.For eight seasons, Ernest Wendo has been strutting Gor Mahia’s midfield like a colossal, earning praise and criticism in almost equal measure. To K’Ogalo faithful, he is the old war horse, a midfield dynamo who scuttles the opposition’s moves, protects the defense and links up play with the forwards, yet, to his critics, he is a dirty player, who never finishes a match without a ref’s caution.Wendo told Mozzart Sport that it’s nothing personal, but just all in a day’s work, “in that role, to be very honest, even if you look at the rest of the world, you have to do more to protect your teammates, once in a while, you take one for the team, situations do happen, but it doesn’t mean you’re a dirty player, you’re simply doing your work.””The midfield can be very congested, as you know most balls go through the central area but still you have to protect your defense, so it can be messy sometimes,” he added.##NAJAVA_MECA_6705459##A defensive midfielder is a midfielder who carries the responsibility of breaking up the flow of play when the opposition has possession of the ball, supports the defense – protecting their goal, and being a link between the defense and attack when needed.Wendo whose role models are former Harambee Stars skipper Victor Wanyama and his big brother McDonald Mariga, started off as a goalkeeper, but like many other players, found a new role in the rest of play, “It just happened as we played ball ya mtaa (estate football), you’d simply adopt to a coach’s style of play or demands, that’s how I ended up in the defensive midfield role as many coaches preferred me there.”The alumni of PAG Primary School (Huruma) and Pioneer High School (Kariobangi South) credits the famous MYSA leagues for exposing his abilities and horning his skills. Having noticed his potential, coach Rashidi Shedu offered him a chance to play for Bidco United after high school, for his first stint which lasted two seasons, before coach George “Kingi” Njoroge ropped him in at Mathare United for a short spell. ##EDITORS_CHOICE##Wendo returned to Bidco, but only for a while as Gor Mahia came knocking in 2015. Winning the Kenyan Premier League unbeaten on his first season remains one of his greatest achievements at K’Ogalo.”It’s something that had never happened before in my career, and one I will never forget. Playing against Everton twice; in Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and England are quite memorable as well,” the father of one, who is expecting a second born soon, said.Coaches have come and left K’Ogalo, yet, it’s the Brazilian José Marcelo Ferreira aka Zè Maria Wendo picks as his biggest influence at the club.”I got my breakthrough under Zè Maria, I played almost all games under him since he joined Gor Mahia in 2016. He trusted me and built his style of play around me.”Wendo has also partnered different midfielders in the middle of the pack for Gor Mahia, but easily picks Azam FC’s Kenneth Muguna as the midfielder he enjoyed working with in that position, “We understood each other very well, he read my moves very well, the same way I understood his.” Gor Mahia forward set to join Zambian sideAs he enters his ninth season with the record Kenyan champions, Wendo is still burning with the same desire to succeed, he is also still open to better opportunities, if any. “Despite challenges here and there, I’ve remained with Gor Mahia because I believe that if I have move then it has to be to a higher level, there have been offeres, but for now I’m contented here.”At 31, Wendo says he still has about three years to offer on the field of play, however, he is already planning for a future in coaching as he wants to give back to a game that has given him so much. “Football is a short career, and anything can happen in between, so you have to plan your future while still actively playing. As for me, I want to be a coach when I’m done playing, it’s something I’m passionate about because I want to give back to my community.”
