NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 17 – The Junior Harambee Starlets will camp in Marbella, Spain, for three weeks, before their maiden appearance at the FIFA World Cup, the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and Ministry of Sports have announced.
Starlets made history Sunday evening, becoming the first ever Kenyan team at any age level or gender to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, after edging out Burundi 5-0 on aggregate in their final qualification match.
FKF boss Nick Mwendwa says preliminary plans had already been made in anticipation of the team’s qualification, and this is the first major step in ensuring the team competes well in the Dominican Republic.
Friendly matches in Spain
“We are going to put them in camp in Spain for three weeks and then from there, they will fly directly to the Dominican Republic. We will play several matches there and this will ensure they get the best preparation,” said FKF boss Nick Mwendwa.
Sports CS Ababu Namwamba, who said the government will support all plans to effectively prepare the team for their maiden bow at the World stage, said they want the team to compete with the rest of the world well.
“We don’t want Kenya to just go there and add up the numbers and just participate. We want to go there and put on a good show and compete. We want to make Kenya and Africa proud,” Namwamba said.
Spain perfect place to camp
He added; “It (Spain camp) is a good place where they can train well and also get some good competition in terms of friendly matches.”
With four months before the World Cup, coach Mildred Cheche and his technical bench have some time on their hands to draw up a good plan, and beef up the team if need be, as Kenya prepares to battle with the rest of the world.
The Junior Starlets, Zambia and Nigeria will be Africa’s representative in the Dominican Republic, and will be drawn up against Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, England, Japan, Korea Republic, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Poland, USA and the hosts.
