Defender
Musa Otieno
Club
Cleveland City Stars
League
USL Second Division
Region
USA
Signed
2008
Estimated peak value · 2002
$150,000 / KSh 12m
Estimated, not a transfer fee — our own valuation of his best seasons at Santos in the South African Premiership, before his 2008 move to Cleveland City Stars, at KSh 78.6 to the dollar.
Profile
South Africa — fourteen years at Santos
A centre-back who gave Santos in Cape Town fourteen consecutive seasons from 1997, 311 appearances and 34 goals — the South African Premiership title in 2001-02, the Bob Save Super Bowl in 2001, the BP Top 8 in 2002 and the ABSA Cup in 2003. A loan to the Cleveland City Stars in 2008 added a USL Second Division title.
Kenya — the caps record
He won 90 caps between 1993 and 2009 with nine goals, most of them as captain, and led the Harambee Stars at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.
After playing
He retired in 2011 into coaching, taking assistant roles at Santos and with the national team, and now runs grassroots work through Kick Off to Hope.
Cup and continental record
With Santos in Cape Town: the Bob Save Super Bowl in 2001, the BP Top 8 in 2002 and the ABSA Cup in 2003 — three South African cup finals won in three years, either side of the league title. A USL Second Division title on loan at the Cleveland City Stars in 2008, and the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations as Kenya's captain.
Managers he played under
Gordon Igesund, four times a South African championship-winning coach and later Bafana Bafana manager, led Santos to the 2001-02 title with Otieno at centre-back. For Kenya he captained sides under Jacob 'Ghost' Mulee, including at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.
After football
Coach and analyst, and founder of Kick Off To Hope
The former Harambee Stars captain retired in 2011 and moved onto the technical bench. He has been an assistant coach of the national team across two spells, from 2014 to 2016 and from 2020 to 2021, worked as an assistant at Kenya Police FC, and has been involved in the government-backed Talanta Hela programme. He holds a CAF A licence with additional training from the German federation, and has said openly that he wants the Harambee Stars head coaching job. He also works as a broadcast analyst, joining the SuperSport panel for the Africa Cup of Nations, and runs his own youth organisation, Kick Off To Hope.
Did you know
Ninety caps for Kenya, and fourteen years at one South African club
Otieno holds Kenya's record for international appearances — 90 caps between 1993 and 2009, most of them as captain. At club level he gave Santos in Cape Town fourteen seasons and more than 300 appearances, a length of service almost nobody in modern football manages at a single club, let alone a foreign professional abroad. He went on to coach the national team he had captained.
90
Caps for Kenya, a national record
14
Seasons at Santos in Cape Town
300+
Club appearances in South Africa
Did you know
Sixteen years an international, and still the record
He debuted against Zaire on 11 July 1993 at nineteen and played his last international in 2009: ninety caps and nine goals, the most anyone has won for Kenya. Nobody has come near the span — sixteen years of qualifying campaigns for a country that reached one Africa Cup of Nations in all that time.
90
Caps — Kenya's record
16 years
Between his first cap and his last
9
International goals
Did you know
Three hundred and eleven games for one club in Cape Town
He left AFC Leopards and Tusker for Santos in Cape Town in 1997 and stayed fourteen years, making 311 appearances and scoring 34 goals from defence. He won the Premier Soccer League in 2001-02, the Bob Save Super Bowl in 2001, the BP Top 8 in 2002 and the ABSA Cup in 2003, and captained Kenya at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
311
Appearances for Santos, Cape Town
14 years
At one club
2001-02
The South African league title
Career record
Kenya's record cap holder with 90 appearances and 9 goals for the Harambee Stars between 1993 and 2009. More than 300 appearances for Santos in South Africa, plus a loan at Cleveland City Stars. Now an assistant coach with the Kenya national team.
Career appearances and goals reconciled against Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Otieno)
Firsts & milestones
- He is Kenya's record cap holder with 90 appearances for the Harambee Stars, and he won the South African Premier Division with Santos in 2001-02.
Appearances by competition
Career approximations compiled from Transfermarkt and club records
355
Appearances
39
Goals
0
Assists
90
Caps
9
Int'l goals
Listing
Historic Top 20
Archived as part of Kenya's historic professional export record.
See the Hall of Fame Top 20Either side of him in the archive
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