Harambee Starlets thrash Mozambique

What you need to know:

  • Kenya beat Mozambique 5-2 in Cosafa opener.

Harambee Starlets on Thursday launched their Cosafa (Confederation of Southern African Football Associations) campaign with an impressive 5-2 win over Mozambique at the Luveve Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Kenya is in Group B alongside Mozambique, Swaziland and Mauritius, and they will be competing for the ultimate prize against 11 other teams from the Southern African region.

Player-of-the-match Neddy Atieno scored a hat-trick as Starlets came from down twice to beat Mozambique 5-2 in the Cosafa Women’s Championship.

Kenya’s other scorers were Vihiga Queens’ Phoebe Okech, who scored from a brilliant free-kick from the left side, and Mombasa Olympic’s Mwanahalima Adam. A record field of 12 teams, including guest nation Kenya, are featuring in the tournament which is a build-up for the African Women’s Championship qualifiers that start early next year.

“I thank my team for the fighting spirit and for never giving up when we were down twice,” Atieno, who recently joined the Kenya Defence Forces, said in a post-match interview.

Kenya is in Group ‘B’ of the Cosafa tournament alongside Mozambique, Swaziland and Mauritius and they will be competing for the ultimate prize against 11 other teams from the Southern African region.

Zimbabwe, who have hosted the competition twice before in 2002 and 2011, is a fitting stage for the tournament as one of the powerhouse nations in the region.