By OUR CORRESPONDENT
Junior Starlets skipper Elizabeth Ochaka is confident they will cruise over Mexico in their final showdown of the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup on Thursday.
The crunch tie will be staged in the wee hours (2am Kenyan time) at the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The captain and her fellow soldiers are plotting for the Mexicans downfall and one of the ways they are doing that is by going back to the drawing board to analyse the two matches they have already played in the global football extravaganza.
Kenya has already battled England and North Korea where Junior Starlets went down fighting.
“We have noted some key mistakes we did in the two matches, we can’t reveal them for now, we hope to implement the changes against Mexico. We are optimistic the notable changes will bore results,” Ochaka underlined.
While they are rectifying the mistakes, the Kenya Police FC defender is pleading with Kenyan fans not to grow weary of the team they had started to love with passion.
“We have really tried our best in this tournament, it’s not easy over here, but we are giving our best in the games,” the former Wiyeta Girls Secondary School alumni stated.
“To the fans, kindly continue supporting us, don’t give up, just cheer us a little bit,” she reiterated.
“The spectators should know that it’s not easy to qualify for such a tournament, and this is our first time so everything is a learning curve.
“Participating in this championship is already an achievement itself, going by the magnitude of this event.
“And from the lessons we have learnt, we hope to come back bigger, better, stronger and fitter in the next edition to be hosted in Morocco next year which will also be expanded to 26 teams,” Ochaka highlighted.
England and North Korea are in the Group C driving seat on six points apiece while Kenya and Mexico are yet to get a point.
Playing at the World Cup really means a lot to soft spoken Ochaka who also has personal ambitions in the Dominican Republic.
One of her aim was to put her best foot forward in the tournament, so she gets scouted to play in Europe.
Her mission in the beautiful game, incase she lands a good deal in Europe, is to come back to Kenya and support other struggling teams.
She also has a vision which is to set up a very successful academy that can give local players a link to other European leagues.
Away from football, Ochaka whose role model in life is Chelsea Women FC defender Lauren James, would love to work as a Police woman.
UTILITIES
Tuesday fixtures
Rest Day
Wednesday fixtures
Poland vs Brazil -11pm
Zambia vs Japan- 11pm
Thursday fixtures
England vs North Korea-2am
Mexico vs Kenya – 2am
