Harambee Stars winger Job Ochieng could be in line for more opportunities at Real Sociedad after impressing head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo with his performance against Real Madrid.La Real suffered a 4-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, but the 23-year-old emerged as one of the positives from the encounter after earning his first start of the season.##NAJAVA_MECA_9922053##Matarazzo admitted that the Kenyan exceeded his expectations after being handed a chance against the Spanish giants.He described his performance as evidence of the quality available within his squad as Sociedad prepares for a demanding campaign in La Liga and the Europa League."With the changes that we made, there were one or two players we did not expect would do so well. For example, Job. He did a very good job, so we have quality that we want to use to build this team," the gaffer said during his Friday press conference.The praise could open the door to a bigger role for Ochieng, who has recently become part of the first-team setup and was handed the number 12 shirt ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.Matarazzo has also made it clear that he intends to rotate his squad rather than depend on the same group of players throughout the season"If we always use the same 10 or 11 players, then you get to a point where players are tired and you do not have the performance levels that you need. We will continue to build and rotate in several positions and, of course, play to win," he added.Stars Abroad: Ochieng starts against Real Madrid as Onyango, Otieno feature in midweek actionThe opportunity at the Bernabéu came against one of the toughest opponents in European football.The Kenyan international showed little fear after being trusted from the start.He lasted 66 minutes and was involved in Sociedad's only goal, providing the assist for Luka Sucic to level the contest in the 44th minute.The winger held off the challenge of former Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate before attempting to curl a low effort towards the far corner.His shot took a deflection and fell perfectly into the path of Sucic, who made no mistake from close range.Real Madrid eventually took control through Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick and another goal from Vinicius Junior, but the heavy defeat did little to overshadow an encouraging individual performance from the Kenyan.TACTICAL ANALYSIS: Understanding how the Kenyan duo at Charlton faired against TottenhamThe former Ligi Ndogo forward completed 10 of the 11 passes he attempted and showed composure in possession against a side packed with some of the world's finest players.His display was particularly significant given that it was only his second senior start for the Basque club.His first-team breakthrough began in February when he made his senior debut during a 3-1 victory over Elche, entering the match in the 65th minute.He has since continued to develop within the Sociedad system before earning his latest opportunity at the Bernabeu.The next test could come quickly, with Sociedad set to welcome Espanyol on Saturday night.KSSSA: Title-winning coach highlights two ways FKF can help grow schools' footballHis emergence also provides a welcome development for Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy, who will be monitoring the winger's progress closely as Kenya prepares for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on home soil.He is the second Kenyan to feature for Real Sociedad, following in the footsteps of MacDonald Mariga, who made 14 appearances for the club during his loan spell from Inter Milan in the 2011/12 season.Michael Olunga also enjoyed a memorable spell in Spain with Girona in 2017/18, famously scoring a hat-trick against Las Palmas.
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