Junior Starlets set base in Addis Ababa ah**d of crucial World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia

The national women’s Under 17 team will have final preparations today at the Abebe Stadium in Addis Ababa before their monumental crunch tie against host Ethiopia in the third round of the 2024 U17 World Cup Qualifiers tomorrow afternoon.

Tactician Mildred Cheche who is leading a national football side as the head coach for the first time says the team is in top shape and the selected players in the travelling squad understands the assignment ahead of them.

“The morale in the camp is high because most of the players here have desired for the national team. The young girls have come here with the urge to prove that they are capable of delivering something special. Majority of the girls have been featuring in different tournaments and now they want to play for the nation and we have great hope that we will get good results in this campaign,” Cheche said.

The team received a huge blow after forward Joy Angela Valencia failed to recover on time to make the cut in the travelling list following a knock on her right foot.

However, coach Cheche says the unavailability of the injured players will be of a major dent to the team since she has a huge pool of great players that will be slotted in for the tasks tomorrow.

“It sad to be without such gifted players that could have contributed something in this journey but all in all the players who are available will step up since we have quite a good pool of players to select from and therefore it is not really like a big issue.”

Junior Starlets could rely on Madira Assassins’ ‘goal machine” Valerie Nekesa who produced a spectacular show last year during the FIFA U20 Women’s qualifiers when she netted four goals in a resounding 10-1 aggregate victory against Angola in the third round.

Nekesa is expected to partner upfront with Marion Serenge of Arch Bishop Njenga Girls High School, Qinter Adhiambo and midfield wizard Diana Anyango

Friday’s first leg encounter will be staged at the 25,000-seater Abebe Bikila artificial turf stadium in Addis with kick set for 3PM East African time.

Starlets will return home on Saturday evening for the return leg fixture on Sunday scheduled at the Ulinzi Sports Complex.

The aggregate winner of the third round will face the victor between Djobouti and Burundi in the fourth and the final round of the process.