Harambee Starlets head coach Beldine Odemba is confident that strategic integration of young players into the senior team will ensure the long-term success of Kenyan women’s football.
Speaking after the team’s dominant 5-0 win over Morocco U23 in a friendly match, Coach Odemba emphasized the importance of nurturing young talent while maintaining a strong core of experienced players.
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“It’s vital for us to integrate them into the senior team gradually,” Odemba remarked. “Elizabeth Ochaka has shown that she’s ready to play at the top level. Goalkeeper Christine Adhiambo is coming up nicely, though unfortunately, she got injured during our first day of training and didn’t feature.
“A seamless blend of young players and the current team will ensure that we don’t get to start over again from zero when we lose the senior players.”
The match against Morocco highlighted Odemba’s vision with a number of youngsters featuring for the senior side.
Elizabeth Ochaka who recently captained Junior Starlets in the U17 World Cup started in defense and kept a clean sheet. Another standout performer was Elizabeth Mideva, a Form Three student at Archbishop Njenga Girls High School, who scored her first senior goal for the Harambee Starlets.
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