Dennis Oliech exchanged shirts with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo and Ronaldinho when he played Champions League football for AJ Auxerre but he did not keep them as everyone else does.
Former AJ Auxerre and Harambee Stars forward Dennis Oliech has shared the surprising fate of the jerseys he collected from some of football’s biggest names during his time in the UEFA Champions League.
Oliech, who played for French side Auxerre in Europe’s elite club competition during the 2010/11 season, had the opportunity to face off against football giants like Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Ajax.
In matches against AC Milan, Oliech managed to obtain jerseys from both Ronaldinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When playing against Real Madrid, he collected shirts from Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, and Pepe.
“I took all the big ones. I took Ronaldinho’s, Zlatan’s, Pepe’s, and Sergio Ramos’s,” Oliech told Sport On.
“When you exchange shirts, usually you give whoever you are exchanging with yours. But I managed to get three shirts from Madrid players. Ronaldo, Marcelo, and Pepe gave me theirs because I was playing on their flank and we had a tall order.”
Instead of keeping these prized jerseys as souvenirs or framing them, Oliech chose a different path. He gave them away to his friends back home, a gesture that reveals his generous nature and perhaps a different perspective to what the memorabilia meant to him.
“I came home with them and gave them to my friends. I gave one to my friend Madrid; I gave him the Pepe shirt. I gave Alfred Chege an AC Milan one. I just gave it to them,” he said.
Oliech also explained the reasoning behind his decision.
“We footballers tend not to wear each other’s jerseys. I gave them all away. Yes, you will wear it once just to feel it, but from there that is it. We wear normal clothes.”
