When Felix Oluoch came on in the 77th minute, shortly after Kenya’s Harambee Stars had taken the lead against Zambia in their final Group A match in the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024, nothing but pride must have filled the man.
That occasion in the newly renovated Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani marked the very first time the former APS Bomet, Kariobangi Sharks, Bandari and Posta Rangers striker donned the national team colours, a period always described as a dream come true moment for every player.
Oluoch’s moment must not have been any different. Only that he was never even supposed to be there in the first place.
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On 2 July 2025, head coach Benni McCarthy had released his provisional Harambee Stars squad and the 27-year-old was not in the picture out of the nine local players called up.
What that effectively meant was that his Harambee Stars dream would have to wait a little bit longer if at all it were to materialize.
Up until two weeks later on 15 July.
On that day, as part of their preparations for the CHAN 2024 tournament where they would be making their debut as co-hosts, Kenya scheduled a friendly match with a select side of former Kariobangi Sharks players that included Oluoch.
And out of the lemons that life fortuitously handed him, Oluoch left with a glass full of lemonade as the select side walked away with a 2-1 win over the national team.
“The friendly had been planned early, so I was prepared in advance. But it was just a friendly, and I was not coming in to prove anything at all,” Oluoch narrated to SportPesa Blog.
That same night after the friendly match, Oluoch, who scored a brace against Naivas to help Posta Rangers cement their status in the topflight in the upcoming 25/26 campaign, was supposed to be flying out of the country to complete a move to Zimbabwean top tier side Scottland.
Only for plans to change after the man grabbed the attention of South African maestro McCarthy after impressing in the friendly encounter.
“In fact, that day I came in knowing that I would be flying out the country at night to sign for another team. All my tickets were ready for the travel,” Oluoch revealed.
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“Later, I was called by assistant coach Anthony ‘Modo’ Kimani only to be informed to join the national team training the following morning and that is how I cancelled my travel out of the country to Zimbabwe where I was to sign for another team.
Being a big moment in my career as it was the first time getting called up to the Harambee Stars, I had to cancel everything to be there,” Oluoch disclosed.
Speaking on the late callup, McCarthy himself admitted that Oluoch forced himself into their plans after massively impressing the technical bench.
“We played a friendly match and he (Oluoch) was a standout player. We as a technical team missed selecting him during the regular season but what he saw in that friendly game was more than enough to convince us that we can add another player into the squad and we immediately we had to bring him in,” McCarthy stated.
On his part, the striker credited his composure for playing a huge part his callup.
“We played that game really well and we outshone the players who were in camp at the time. I was very composed and I think that is what got me called up,” he reminisced.
While it was only a provisional callup, Oluoch knew deep down that nothing would get taken away from him especially after forcing himself into the national team plans. And so, he joined knowing what he wanted his ultimate goal to be.
“I was only called to training but in my mind I knew 100% that I was coming to stay with the team. I was so convinced. We were a lot of strikers around but in my mind, I was sure I would stay and at long last that happened,” the striker assured.
Felix Oluoch Harambee Stars CHAN 2024
Oluoch’s call up was funny to the point that even his own brother never believed when he first shared the news with him.
“My brother was the first person I called, but he never believed me,” Oluoch revealed.
“He only came to believe the following day after seeing images from the national team training session and he is the one who now shared the news afterwards,” he said.
Prior to his Harambee Stars debut in the CHAN 2024, Oluoch was an unused substitute in the opening three group stage matches against DR Congo, Angola and Morocco.
But the moment he stepped onto that pitch against Zambia, Oluoch knows the incredible opportunity at hand.
“This is a big market for any player. If I perform well, I know anyone can buy my contract and get a good team so that is the target,” Oluoch concluded.
Oluoch made headlines following a brief stint with APS Bomet in the 2020/21 National Super League season where he scored 14 goals despite joining midway through the campaign.
He then sealed a topflight move to Kariobangi Sharks where he netted 12 goals in 24 games before switching to coastal-based side Bandari FC.
In that 21/22 campaign, Oluoch finished as the third-highest scorer in the FKF Premier League behind Clifton Miheso and Derrick Otanga.
He scored twice in their 2-0 first-leg victory over Naivas in the promotion/relegation playoff at to help Posta stay in the top tier following an aggregate 2-1 victory.