As the Cecafa Women Championship draws to a close, all eyes will be on the impressive Harambee Starlets, who will be sweating it out against Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Queens in the final. The game, which will be played at the Njeru Technical Center, has the potential to be a cracker, with both sides unbeaten so far. The Kenyan outfit have scored 22 goals in four games, and some Kenyan fans are obviously beaming with optimism, although Tanzania coach Sebastian Nkoma said their inexperience will work against them.
“The final will be very tough but I know we are going to win. Kenya is a good team but they are not experienced for a tournament like this,” he said. He added that as the Kilimanjaro Queens coach, he has enough experience at this level. He will be relying on his star players who include Asha Rashid and Mwanahamisi Omari, while Kenya will look to star striker Esse Mbeyu Akida, who will definitely have the golden boot in sight.
The Harambee starlets have surpassed the set expectations of many fans with their displays so far, given that they perform better in competitive games and tournaments than their male counterparts. They are East Africa’s only team participating in the Africa Women Cup of Nations that is set to be hosted by Cameroon from 19th November to 3rd December. Starlets captain Ann Aluoch Onyango has reiterated that they are targeting the title, “Tanzania is a good team but we shall be looking to win that game,” she said. She insisted that their target was to make it to the final of the tournament. In what is billed to be a great game, both Kenya and Tanzania will be looking to assert their supremacy, and take up the title as the best Women team in the region, a title which has evaded the men national football team, Harambee Stars recently, with Uganda being the best team in the region at the moment.