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Harambee Starlets depart for Cameroon on Friday
What you need to know:
- The girls, under the tutelage of youthful coach David Ouma, will be making their bow in the continental showpiece which gets underway on November 20 - December 3.
- A squad of 21 players and seven technical bench members will board a Kenya Airways flight from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 7.30 am en-route the capital Yaoundé.
- The Starlets who are in pool ‘B’ together with Mali, Ghana and cup holders Nigeria
Harambee Starlets jet out on Friday for Yaounde, Cameroon to participate in 12th edition of African Women Cup of Nations finals.
The girls, under the tutelage of youthful coach David Ouma, will be making their bow in the continental showpiece which gets underway on November 20 - December 3.
A squad of 21 players and seven technical bench members will board a Kenya Airways flight from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 7.30 am en-route the capital Yaounde.
From Yaounde, the team will travel by road to Limbe city, approximately 304 kilometres west of the capital, where they will be based and will also battle the hosts in their final build-up match on Sunday.
The Starlets who are in pool ‘B’ together with Mali, Ghana and cup holders Nigeria launch their quest for the crown on November 20, at the Stade Municipal de Limbe against Ghana, before facing Mali on November 23.
They wind up the group matches with a tantalising clash against Nigeria on November 26.
Hosts Cameroon are in group ‘A’ together with Egypt, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The team will on Thursday be treated to a farewell luncheon by the Football Kenya Federation at the Kasarani hostels.
Lead striker Neddy Atieno will however not make the trip as she has taken up a job offer with the Kenya Defence Forces.
“We have prepared them well. It’s the best preparations any football team has ever had in a longtime in our country and now the time has come for them to go and do the job,” FKF President Nick Mwendwa said.
The aim is a semis and the ball is in their court. The Ministry of Sports has paid the bills and Kenyans will be behind them.”
The Starlets head to the continental showpiece as complete underdogs but if their performance in the recent build-up matches are to be used as a yardstick, then they will be no push overs.
In their three-month preparations, the girls have proved that they can go toe-to- toe with the continents powerhouses and this is exemplified by the famous 1-0 win over Egypt in a build-up contest last week at the Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani.
Their impressive run in the Cecafa Women’s Champion where they finished runners-up to Tanzania did not go unnoticed and so was their exploits in Morocco, where they won two of their friendly matches with chastening victories – a 6-1 mauling of CAK Khenifra, and a 8-1 rout over Wydad Casablanca .
