Kenya Winger Just Misses Out on Best Assists Award As He Helps FC Koln Secure Bundesliga Promotion in Stye

Harambee Stars prospect Linton Maina returned to the pitch for the first time in two months as a substitute as FC Koln torched 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4-0 to win the 20242025 2.Bundesliga title and secure promotion back to the topflight of German football.

Maina, who had been nursing an ankle injury he suffered in March, had been on the sidelines for two months but was rendered fit enough to make an appearance for the last game of the season.

Up until his injury, Maina had scored three goals and registered 10 assists in the league, and was well on course to finish as the league’s most creative player, but his injury means Hanover’s Jean-Luc Dompé and Julian Justvan of Nuremberg pipped him to the award, with both players finishing on 12 assists.

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Regardless, Maina will be glad his team won the main price, which is the title, and will now be playing in the Bundesliga next season.

The promotion-clinching win at the RheinEnergieStadion was never in doubt. Eric Martel and Luca Waldschmidt gave Köln a comfortable 2-0 cushion inside 30 minutes. 

Florian Kainz added a third in the 76th minute, before retiring club stalwart Mark Uth signed off his professional career in style with a late fourth.

Köln finished the season on 61 points, two clear of second-placed Hamburg SV, who had already sealed promotion despite losing 3-2 to Greuther Fürth.

 Elversberg, who finished third, now head to a promotion/relegation playoff against Heidenheim, the 16th-placed team in the Bundesliga.

For Maina, the mission now shifts to pre-season preparations and staking a strong claim for consistent minutes in the Bundesliga next term — a league he’ll be eager to make his mark in again, 

Should he keep his performances consistent, he will create a dual nationality battle with Kenya, as Benni McCarthy continues to build a strong future Harambee Stars squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, as well as the 2027  AFCON on home soil.