Published on October 18, 2024 by Kariuki Mwangi
Last Updated on 2 years by Kariuki Mwangi
The Kenya Junior Starlets faltered in their start match of the on-going FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024 falling 2-0 to England in their opening Group C match in the Dominican Republic as they made history, becoming the first ever Kenyan team to play at the global stage.
Coach Mildred Cheche’s team started well at the CFC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballetros early Friday, but failed to find the punch at the England goal. Kenya conceded a penalty after 29 minutes which was converted by Lola Brown and a late goal after 87 minutes from Lauryn Ida Belle Thompson.
However, despite the defeat, Starlets put up a performance to be proud of, especially in the second half, and will have a lot of positives to pick heading to the second match.
The duo of Marion Serenge and Valerie Nekesa kept the England defending line busy, but failed to find the break through to score.
“Although we lost our opening match, I am happy that the team gave their best but made a few mistakes especially defensively. We must now prepare for the next match against Korea DPR,” said coach Cheche.
“It was a great match, we played well but not the results we wanted. There are lots of lessons we picked in terms of tactical preparedness and physical attributes. For the remaining two matches we will give our best,” coach Cheche added.
Korea DPR who humbled Mexico 4-1 in the opening match are now top of Group C, while Kenya are in third place. The Kenya Junior Starlets will conclude their group stage matches against Mexico on the October 24th, 2024.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals, while the bottom two will exit the tournament. This will be the last U17 World Cup with 16 teams, as the tournament will expand to 24 teams from the 2025 edition.
