- He was born on born 4 April 1987
- In March 2010 McDonald made history as the first Kenyan footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League
- Mariga started his playing career at Ulinzi Stars
- Mariga was a member of the Kamukunji High School ‘Golden Boys’, which also included Kenyan striker Dennis Oliech (Auxerre, France), who won two consecutive National Championships in 2002 & 2003.
- Following initial interest from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, Mariga looked set to sign for the Premier League team, but work permit issues held up the deal which was supposed to have cost around €2.7million.
- In January 2010 he was set to sign for English Premier League club Manchester City, but he failed to obtain a work permit.
- It was later stated by Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga that 22-year-old Mariga had eventually obtained a UK work permit but only after the transfer window for the Premier League had closed. Had Mariga successfully signed for Manchester City, he would have been the first player from the East African country to sign for a club in the top English league
- Mariga scored his first international goal for Kenya against Swaziland on 25 March 2007
- Mariga’s father, Noah Wanyama, a left winger, played for A.F.C. Leopards and the Kenya national football team
- His younger brother Victor Wanyama is also a professional football player, who is currently playing for Scottish Premier League champions Celtic, while his other brothers Thomas and Sylvester play for Kenyan Premier League clubs Sofapaka and Sony Sugar respectively. Their younger sister Mercy is the captain of the Lang’ata High School basketball team. She previously played football and netball.
10 Things You Didn’t Know About McDonald Mariga
