Kenya U17 women’s national football team, Junior Starlets, head coach Mildred Cheche has opened up about what her side must do if they are to book a ticket to the 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
Junior Starlets are currently two matches away from qualifying for the global tourney after securing a tie against South Africa in the third and final qualification round. Victor Wanyama’s advice to Michael Olunga on dealing with Harambee Stars’ criticismKenya will be seeking to replicate their 2024 qualifying campaign that took them to the World Cup before missing out on the 2025 edition at the expense of Cameroon.
Speaking on the sidelines of the team’s training session at Kasarani Annex on Monday, 29 June, Cheche, who guided the team to the U17 FIFA World Cup two years ago, spelt out two factors that must work in their favour to replicate the 2024 success.
“We need to change the mentality. From the beginning, I told the girls that it was not going to be easy because every team wants to qualify for the World Cup currently. When we have a strong mentality, we are able to fight through the hard circumstances and win matches that would take us to the World Cup,” said Cheche.
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Serbian scout reveals how unwelcomed decision to sign Collins Sichenje infuriated AjaxOn the field of play, the soft-spoken tactician also identified a weakness that she is striving to fix ahead of the South Africa clash.“We would also need to convert our chances during matches because we always create them. We also need to fight until the end because football is a game of 90 minutes, and so the girls, together with the technical bench, would need to keep fighting until we get over the line,” she added.
Cheche went ahead to appreciate the importance of the recently concluded CECAFA tournament for her team’s preparations.“CECAFA was great for the team because it gave us ample preparation before the main match against South Africa. We are anticipating a very aggressive side, but the girls are mentally prepared,” she remarked.
Kenya will be away to South Africa on Saturday, 4 July at the Lucas Moripe Stadium before hosting the return match on Sunday, 12 July at the Nyayo National Stadium.