Starlets: We were not distracted by men in Uganda

The resounding success of Harambee Starlets has attracted a horde of male admirers but the players denied the attention and date offers did not distract them during their 2-1 loss to Kilimanjaro Queens of Tanzania during the Cecafa Women Championships final in Uganda last Tuesday.

The team is instead keen to make amends but creating a huge impact at the November CAF Africa Women Cup of Nation finals (Awcon) in Cameroon where they are targeting at least the quarterfinals, promising to rectify the mistakes that saw the favourites stunned by the determined Queens.

Team Manager and veteran player, Doreen Nabwire rubbished rumours that have gained traction on social media that most of the ladies in the team had shifted focus to the men drawn to them by their meteoric rise.

“Yes, could be two or three players were approached and this is normal. We concentrated on what took us to the competition more than other things.

“We were focused and determined, aiming be crowned the winners but unfortunately we settled in the second place. We must acknowledge that Tanzania was also a very good team,” the former captain told.

Striker Esse Mbeyu Akida who top scored for Kenya at the Cecafa tournament with five goals concurred with her teammate, adding the claims were unfounded.

Instead, Starlets are out to make use of their final preparations for their Awcon debut where friendlies with hosts Cameroon and Morocco have been lined up by Football Kenya Federation.

“Morocco is not in Awcon but it doesn’t mean it’s a bad team.  We are looking for a team which will challenge us and we received invitation from them and they want us to play two top clubs.

“West African countries have experience from competitive leagues which are going on and have been qualifying to the Awcon regularly. Our league is still young and the teams assemble to train only once a week but there has been great improvement this season,” Nabwire remarked.

Her inclusion by coach David Ouma in the Starlets playing set up in Tanzania raised a number of eyebrows with most thinking she had retired from the game altogether after being appointed the Team Manager.

“I was not out of the team for four years as reported in certain blogs. I came back from Cologne, Germany in 2014 but unfortunately, I sustained a very serious injury. I was still nursing it by the time I returned home.

“It took long to recover towards the end of 2015 but I had taken maternity leave at the team. Since the team reported to camp for the Awcon qualifiers, I have been training with them,” the veteran explained.

“Coach Ouma told me I still had a chance so I intensified my training. I believe I assisted a lot in Cecafa but the future decision lies with the coach,” she said of her future as a player for the side.

Starlets most lethal forward at the Cecafa tournament, Akida on the other hand rued her failure to win the race for the Golden Boot at Cecafa.

“I can say they read my game and that’s why it turned out to be tricky for me to score in the final games. I also had an injury though not very serious, but it affected my game. I want to come back strong in Awcon.

“We have to be prepared and many view us as underdogs but that is not the case. We will pull a big surprise,” she pledged.

She admitted Starlets will miss gifted striker Mwanahalima ‘Dogo’ Adam, who will sitting her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations when the team will be in Cameroon for the November 19 to December 3 continental showpiece.