Kenya could have exited the ongoing 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic but the memories of Junior Starlets is still fresh on some of the teams and the players they battled in the tournament.
England captain Laila Harbert is among the players who revisited their encounter with Kenya who made their debut in the championship, creating history by defeating Mexico in the group stages.
Harbert admitted that playing Kenya is one of her best moments of the World Cup that will live with her for a very long time.
“It was our opening match, so the game was really special for us because we needed to make a mark in the competition,” the Arsenal Women FC central midfielder said.
“The match did not turn out as we had expected, we thought we would pump in as many goals as possible past Kenya but their players were resilient. In the end it proved Kenya were prepared to put their best foot forward in their debut as they gave us a hard time and this was reflected in the end score which was not as per our expectations.
“I think Kenya really did well in the match and in the tournament as they were not only our worthy opponents, but strived to win a match in the group stages which many never expected,” the skipper said.
The Captain’s sentiments were echoed by prolific defender Las Nelly who termed Kenya as a proficient side but very physical.
” Kenya gave us a good challenge. We will remember this vividly because it was our first fixture of the tournament,” stated Nelly who also features for Leicester Women FC.
England coach, Natalie Henderson, said tackling Kenya was a tough affair as she never expected the East Africans to fend off England’s challenge with almost an equal gusto
“Ahead of the match, we studied Kenya online as we had never seen them play before, we immediately knew they were going to be physical so we were well prepared for that, but the opponents showed class and character in the match, they had a lasting spirit in the game.
“It felt good that we got the three points and the massive possession, but Kenya definitely had something, they put my girls to task, their challenge offered good opportunity for the development of my players,” Henderson underlined.
According to the England tactician, Kenya can do well in future World Cup showpieces with good training, investments in women’s football and academies and sticking the players together to grow through the age groups phases the way England does.
Though tipped as among this year’s championship favourites, England best ever performance in the World Cup is a quarterfinal berth in 2016.
On Sunday, England beat Japan 4-1 on penalties (after 2-2 draw in regulation) to qualify for this year’s semifinals slated for Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo on Friday.
The other semi finals will be a tough battle pitting North Korea against USA in Santiago on Thursday.
Harbert believes aggressiveness in the second half helped them overcome the Japanese who were on a 2-1 lead at the breather.
” Tackling Japan was not easy, so we will celebrate the victory for a moment before we get down to dig on how to overcome Spain on Friday.
“Our dream is to win this tournament and so we will do our best to realise that victory,” stated Harbert.
Nelly said team work, resilience and focus played a crucial role over their Japanese victory same as to coach Henderson.
“We already know Spain is very tough but we don’t want to be thinking about them now, we just want to immerse ourselves in the celebrations first before we start thinking hard on how to go about the semifinals,” stated Henderson.
