NAIROBI, Kenya, January 21, 2025 – National under 17 girls’ football team coach Mildred Cheche is targeting a second consecutive appearance at the World Cup after last year’s debut in the Dominican Republic.
Cheche says she is putting together a strong team to ensure they get past Uganda in the second round of qualifiers in March this year.
“The expectation is to qualify so we are putting together a great team to ensure we are able to compete at that particular level. We are hoping to win the match…it is not going to be easy because they are also an experienced side but we also have a good team that we are going to push them to give us good results,” the gaffer said.
The Junior Starlets etched their names in football folklore as the first of their kind from Kenya to qualify for a World Cup of any level.
They thrashed Burundi 5-0 on aggregate to qualify for the global tournament, held in the Dominican Republic on October 16-November 3.
The girls went a step further and made history with a first-ever win for a Kenyan team at that level – a 2-1 win over Mexico in their final Group C encounter in Santo Domingo.
Although it is a moment Cheche savours to this day, the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) disciple is already plotting for this year’s World Cup in Morocco.
She revealed that she has already identified good players from the just-concluded Girls Integrated Football Tournament (GIFT) in Tanzania.
The Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) took bronze after defeating Uganda’s Boni Consilli Girls 2-0 in the third-place playoff.
Another Kenyan side, Kenya Elite Junior Academy, came fifth after thrashing Burundi’s Aigle Noir.
“It was a great platform for us to see our girls in competitive matches and also to prepare them for the upcoming World Cup qualifier. Most of them will be in the qualifiers and we will also have additions of some who were left out…not all of them were able to go to Tanzania. We will have a mini-selection to incorporate those who didn’t get a chance,” she said.
Cheche is crossing her fingers that the team will hit training camp soon, ahead of their battle against their next-door neighbours in March.
“The plan was to hit camp on the 20th of this month but we are a bit late so hopefully, before 25th, we should be able to be in camp,” she said.
The Ugandans thrashed Namibia 18-0 on aggregate, having won 8-0 in their return leg fixture in Nakivubo on Sunday.
