By James Waindi
The National women under 20 team were in high spirits when they left the country for a do-or-die World Cup second leg qualifier against Tunisia in Tunis. They need a 2-0 win to progress to the next level of the qualifiers.
Kenyans lost the first leg 2-1 in Nairobi a fortnight ago and will have to overturn the scores.
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National Under-20 women’s team train at City Stadium on Tuesday. [Photo: Stafford Ondego/Standard] |
If the Starlets eliminate Tunisia in the two legged qualifier, they will set a date with the winner between South Africa and Ghana. Should they also win their next test, they would have made history by becoming the first Kenyan football team to qualify for the World Cup to be held in Japan.
Ghana have an upper hand over South Africa as they host the South Africans in Accra on Saturday after they beat South Africa 2-0 away two weeks ago.
The match will be played at the Municipal de la Gambalia Stadium on Saturday.
Coach Florence Adhiambo maintained the same squad that played the Tunisians during the first leg, but will once again miss the services of striker Jaquline Ogall who is still nursing an injury suffered during Zambia’s clash in Lusaka.
"We plan to attack from the first whistle to the end because I’m sure they will be under pressure, playing at home, and I don’t think they can sustain pressure, which we hope exploit," said Adhiambo before the team left.
Missed chances
She added: "We missed a lot of chances in the first leg, but we fought hard in the second half to grab a crucial goal and we are now keen to overturn the 2-1 deficit. The girls are focused despite the few teething problems we had in camp the last few days."
The coach expects a hostile crowd in Tunis but insists the team plays well away, they scored two goals away in Lesotho during the preliminaries and also scored an away goal in Zambia, before finishing the job in Nairobi.
Expected to lead the Starlets’ attack will be Neddy Atieno, Mural Auma with playmaker Sharon Buisinei, captain Terry Ouko and Margaret Wayua marshaling the mid field, while Poline Atieno is favoured to stand between the posts.
FKF chairman Sam Nyamweya said the Government had paid for the team’s return air tickets and noted that the team would be paid allowances of Sh4,000 per day during their stay in Tunisia.
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