Rampant Starlets eye Ethiopias Lucy scalp

Harambee Starlets are a step away from Cecafa Women’s Championships finals with Ethiopia’s Lucy, their fellow pre-tournament favourites standing in their way in Sunday’s semis.

David Ouma’s side has breezed through the tournament, handing hosts Uganda and Burundi 4-0 hidings before registering a goal avalanche when they went riot in the 11-0 annihilation of hapless Zimbabwe to emerge from Group B with maximum points.

Lucy set up a date with the Starlets when they finished second in Group A to Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Queens who will lock horns with the hosts Crested Cranes in the other last four clash.

Tanzania avoided Starlets in the last four pairings through a toss of coin, after tying with Ethiopia on all fronts in the preliminaries.

Speaking to Citizen Digital from Jinja, Team Manager and veteran player Doreen Nabwire expressed confidence Starlets will carry their group stage momentum where they went without conceding a goal to the first knockout clash of the tournament.

“We respect every team, it is not going to be easy but we will play our hearts out and hope for the best. We look forward to a good game regardless of who the opponent with victory in mind.

“From the matches we have played every position is stable. The team has been together for a long time which is making it easier for us here, but Ethiopia is a tough side and the focus is on us,” Nabwire emphasised.

The TM lauded the competition for places in the team, saying it is giving their opponents trouble to predict what to expect.

“Out of the 23 players we have here, only four have not played so far yet we are winning with big margins. Ethiopians cannot point out specific players to mark because almost everyone is at the top of their game.

“We are motivated by the record so far which we must sustain going forward,” she added.

The decider will be played on Tuesday.

-AWCON draw-

Meanwhile, the 12th edition of Women’s African Football Cup of Nations draw for eight participating teams will be conducted at the Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex in Cameroon on Sunday.

According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the procedure for the draw has been approved by the Women Football Committee in a tournament that will see Starlets participate for the first time in their history.

The champions Nigeria and the host nation Cameroon will be the top seeds in Groups A and B, with Ghana and South Africa forming the second seeds.

The first team to be drawn would be placed in Group A and the second in Group B, which means Starlets will face either Cameroon or Nigeria in the preliminaries.

The group stage of the tournament will be played at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé, and the Omnisport Stadium in Limbe.