Hosts Starlets look to shine against Equatorial Guinea

What you need to know:

  • This is the second and final round of qualification and whoever wins the two-legged tie will be legible to participate in the Afcon finals scheduled for November this year in Ghana.
  • Equatorial Guinea were given a bye in the first round alongside four top African women’s teams namely Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa.
  • Kenya on the other hand defeated the She-Cranes of Uganda 1-0 in the two-legged first round qualifier played in April.

The Kenya national women’s football team on Wednesday embarks on a difficult assignment against two-time African champions Equatorial Guinea in the final qualifying round of this year’s African Women’s Cup of Nations.

The match kicks off at 3pm at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos, ahead of the return match scheduled for this Saturday away at the Estadio Nkoantoma de Bata stadium in Malabo.

A win for Kenya’s “Starlets” will give them a comfortable advantage over the central Africans, who have a Fifa ban looming over them due to their tendency to field ineligible players in such competitions.

That is why coach David Ouma, who guided Kenya to the Africa finals in Cameroon in 2016, is determined to secure a convincing victory over the “Nzalang Nacionale” by 5pm.

“We have had some good time together, and although there are some minor improvements to be made especially with our midfielders, I can say that we are ready for the match.

“The players are responding well to training, they are fit and really looking forward to the match. What we want is to get a straight win at home so that we have an upper hand when we play the away match,” he said.

The 26-woman Starlets team has been in residential training in Machakos for a week and a half now, while the Equatoguineans arrived on Sunday evening and felt the pitch Tuesday afternoon.

This is the second and final round of qualification and whoever wins the two-legged tie will be legible to participate in the Afcon finals scheduled for November this year in Ghana.

Equatorial Guinea were given a bye in the first round alongside four top African women’s teams namely Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa.

Kenya on the other hand defeated the She-Cranes of Uganda 1-0 in the two-legged first round qualifier played in April.