Ouma expects tougher Egyptian outfit for Starlets task

The Kenya national women’s national team Head Coach, David Ouma, has warned the Harambee Starlets against underestimating the Egyptian might ahead of their friendly on Friday afternoon.

Together with his squad, Ouma watched as the Egyptian women’s national team were held to a 1-1 draw by Thika Queens in Wednesday’s friendly but has cautioned they should expect to face a more reinforced squad.

The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Women’s Premier League Champions overpowered Coach Mohamed Mostafa’s side and were unlucky not to claim a win after a sloppy opening five minutes saw them shoot themselves on the foot when Caroline Kiget scored into her own net.

“They played a much-weakened line-up against Thika Queens; completely different from the one they fielded against South Africa. As much as they played their reserve players or the so-called field players I know their style of play and the team’s formation it cannot be too different from what they put out there.

“From the shortcomings we had against Cameroon we have rectified and now the team is sharp. It was a physical game but for Egypt we know they are a very compact side and love to play on the counters so we’ll want to take our chances early,” Ouma told Citizen Digital.

The former Sofapaka tactician added that the team will only benefit if Mostafa fielded his strongest starting line-up as the team continues a series of planned friendly matches ahead of November’s African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) finals in Cameroon.

“We should expect a tougher match. I had players in the camp from Queens including Lydia Akoth whom I had to release and for me I think she enjoyed a terrific game. Of course coming back to the national squad the competition for starting places is tight but it shows we’re doing something right,” he added.

The friendly contest that is scheduled for (tomorrow) Friday will now kick-off at 2.30pm and NOT 7pm as earlier planned

A statement sent by FKF announced that the kick-off time for the friendly match had been rescheduled 2.30pm and not 7pm as earlier planned.

“The move has been necessitated by a request from the visiting team, to have the match played earlier in the day in order to allow them ample time to prepare for their departure back to Egypt,” part of the statement read.