Cameroon women’s natiobal team technical bench.PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 24- National women’s football team can cause upsets at November’s African Women’s Cup of Nations, Cameroon head coach Enow Ngacho said.
Speaking after leading his side to a 1-0 win over Starlets in a friendly match over the weekend at Kasarani Stadium, Ngacho whose team reached the final of the last Cup of Nations in 2014, said he was amazed with Kenya’s growth.
“We expected a very good game. They (Starlets) have progressed so much in Africa. I think they have what it takes to cause shocks at the Cup of Nations. They just have to keep on working looking at how much they have improved over time,” Ngacho stated.
He looks forward to the return friendly back at their home turf on November 5 set to be played in Limbe, the same city Starlets will play their group matches.
Harambee Starlets’ forward Neddy Atieno wins the ball in a tussle with Brigitie Ombodou of Cameroon.PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
“It is going to be beneficial for not only Cameroon but Kenya because they will get used to the venue of their group matches. For us, we want to play in front of the home fans because for the last two weeks we have only been away. It will be good to see how the country reacts when we are playing. That psychological aspect for the girls will be important,” the tactician offered.
In the friendly, Starlets gave a good account of themselves creating decent scoring opportunities and only went down through a Christine Manie second half penalty.
Ngacho was impressed with how his girls fared in the match and he hopes they will firm up hard enough to challenge for the title when they host the AWCON later in November.
“Winning was not important because it was a game of evaluation. We wanted to see if our players are physically fit and I was satisfied with the match. We discovered our weaknesses and hopefully we correct before the start of Nations Cup,” he said.
Cameroon women’s team.PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
The coach added; “In 2012 we were third, 2014 we reached the final and now 2016 should be our year. We are hosting and have everything to win this cup. We will do everything possible to win.”
The Indomitable Lionesses are pooled against Zimbabwe, South Africa and Egypt in group A and Ngacho concedes it will not be an easy pool.
He says he wants to improve every aspect of his side’s play before the Cup of Nations and is banking on home support to push them to their first ever African title.
