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Kenya players celebrate a goal against Mexico during Group C match of the Under 17 Fifa Women’s World Cup the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on October 23, 2024.
By Toto Arege
Reporter
NMG Sport
Kenya’s Junior Starlets concluded their Under-17 Women’s World Cup campaign on a high, defeating 2018 finalists Mexico 2-1 in their final Group ‘C’ match at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday (early Thursday morning in Kenya).
In another group match at CFC Stadium in Santiago, two-time champions North Korea triumphed over 2018 quarter-finalists England 4-0, to finish at the top of the group with nine points.
England secured second place with six points, while Kenya ended third with three points, and Mexico finished bottom with zero points. The top two move to the quarterfinals.
Starlet coach Mildred Cheche made two changes in her starting lineup with key players defenders Lorine Ilavonga and Dianah Anyango suffering injuries, as Rebecca Odato was out due to suspension after two yellow cards in the previous games.
Pearl Olesi, Halima Imbachii, and Kimber Akinyi started in the trio’s places. In the first 10 minutes, Kenya had more than five scoring chances but failed to convert.
Four minutes later, a long ball from captain and defender Elizabeth Ochaka found striker Joan Ogola, who skillfully navigated past the defenders and set up Valarie Nekesa for the opening goal.
Kenya maintained pressure on Mexico, with defenders Nicol De Leon, Gonzalez Adrianna, Berenice Ibarra, and Alexa Martinez working tirelessly to clear the ball from danger.
Mexico coach Jimena Rojas made a substitution in the 17th minute with striker Naomy Vázquez came out for Sofia Núñez to lead the attack.
In the 35th minute, Kenya doubled their lead with a goal from Lorna Faith. Following De Leon’s long kick, Ochaka sent the ball back from the defensive area, allowing Faith to capitalise and score to give Kenya the healthy lead going into the break.
In the second half, Mexico scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the second half through a penalty area when defender Christine Adhiambo brought down striker Citlalli Reyes in the box and the referee awarded a penalty with the Kenyan booked.
Midfielder Alexa Sato stood up to take the penalty and scored from the spot.
“It feels great, I’m so happy for the girls because they gave it their all and in the end, they got a win. I want to thank all the Kenyan fans who were watching at 2am and now our motivation is to stay together, keep training, and try to qualify for the next World Cup, noted Cheche.
“What stands out is the attitude of our players: they are young, over half of them will come of age for the next edition, so we need to learn and analyse and carry on working for good results in the future,” said Mexico coach Jimena Rojas.
Lorna was voted player of the match.
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