The youth in the suburbs of Paris makes Okita strong

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First he is surprised, then he is angry. FCZ striker Jonathan Okita (26) is the best from Zurich in St. Gallen, but was substituted on as a substitute after Becir Omeragic (21) was sent off. “Of course I was frustrated and I showed it. But that has long been forgotten,” says Okita. He says it so relaxed that he doesn’t actually seem to hold a grudge against coach Bo Henriksen (48).

This man is only explosive on the field. And soon Okita will have to be put down again as so often under Henriksen: FCZ goalkeeper Aiyegun Tosin (24) is out for weeks. So more pressure for Okita – but Zurich’s second best goalscorer (6 goals/3 assists) remains loose before Basel struck.

Okita grew up in three countries

He has seen much more complicated moments in football and in life. In football, most recently at the start of the season, when Franco Foda’s (56) newcomer didn’t get a chance and wondered if the transfer to FCZ was a mistake. “It was a difficult time for me. But now everything looks very different.” The fast dribbler showed from October why various other clubs also wanted him in the summer.

Okita chose the champion from Switzerland. Another new place. By the time he was 15, he had already lived in three countries. His parents emigrated to Paris from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his now 32-year-old brother before moving to Cologne. “My younger brother and I were born in Germany,” says Okita.

But the toddler was only four years old when the Okitas returned to France – so he doesn’t speak German. From that moment on, young Jonathan grew up in a Parisian banlieue. The gloomy suburbs are often social hotspots. Okita assures that he has good childhood memories, but also says: “Life is different there than in Switzerland. I’ve seen things that not everyone who wants to live a normal life wants to see. But it makes you stronger in your head.”

He does not explain in detail what kind of crime he witnessed as a schoolboy. After thinking for a while, Okita says, “I saw these things and realized it wasn’t for me. My passion was football.”

When the father started working in Brussels, the family moved to Belgium. This is where football really started. Okita played for the first time in the youth of a professional club for the second division club Tubize and joined the U21 top club Liège at the age of 18. Then he became a seasoned professional in five years in the Netherlands.

Where is his homeland? “It’s Belgium. My family, including my grandparents, still live in Brussels,” says Okita, who holds German and Belgian passports – and since his national debut in 2021, also that of the Dominican Republic.

Source : Blick