By OUR CORRESPONDENT
Even though the run has not been easy for Kenya at the ongoing 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic, the Junior Starlets have vowed to anguka (fall) with Mexico in their final Group C clash on Thursday morning in Santo Domingo.
The Mildred Cheche’s side went down 3-0 against double champions North Korea in Santiago on Sunday, with So Ryu-Gyong scoring a brace in the eighth and 11th minutes as Ri Kuk-Hyang added the third goal in the 86th minute to seal Starlets second loss in the global showpiece. Starlets went down 2-0 to England on Friday.
Coach Cheche and her girls have pledged to end the tournament with atleast a victory or a point and now their main focus is on Mexico who also are pointless in the group.
“The battle with North Korea was not easy with us, but I think we did our best considering the level of the opponents as they are two time champions.
“But we (technical) bench will lift the spirits of the girls before the Mexico fixture, we will take this game one step at a time, the way we have always handled the rest,” Cheche underlined.
“We will keep pushing, we will keep encouraging the girls to do better in all the matches as football is big and we are on this bigger platform to put our best foot forward and showcase our talents.
“To our fans, keep supporting us, the matches are not easy over here, but the girls are trying their best,” underlined Cheche.
North Korea tops Group C on six points, followed by England who also have similar marks.
While Kenya is the first East African nation, and the ninth African country to take part in the tournament, Mexico are making a seventh straight appearance since their debut in the World Cup in 2010.
Mexico’s best ever performance was a runners up place against Spain in 2018, becoming the second Concacaf nation to reach the final after USA in 2008.
The Mexicans booked their berth at this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup by reaching the final of
this year’s Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship on home turf, with the hosts advancing to the
showpiece at the expense of Canada after Vanessa Aguilar’s strike sealed a 2-1 extra-time victory.
There will be no matches on Tuesday with battle for the final group stages set to revv-off on Wednesday and Thursday.
