Okere exudes confidence in Starlets ahead of AWCON qualifiers

National women’s football side, Harambee Starlets, are set to play South Sudan next month in the first round of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers and coach Charles Okere has expressed confidence in the team getting back to the continental stage.

Starlets made their debut at the AWCON in 2016. The team was set to make a second appearance after Equatorial Guinea were disqualified by CAF in the qualifiers for fielding an ineligible player but the decision was overturned on appeal and Equatorial Guinea were reintegrated into the competition Kenya's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) was unfruitful.

Okere, who is new to the team and will be seeking to return the national team to the continental showpiece and at the same time have a shot at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as next year’s edition of doubles as a qualifier to the global games. The top four teams will qualify for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.

“South Sudan’s Bright Starlets are a testament of the growth in women’s football in the continent and we respect them. We will prepare well for this fixture and I know the players are ready to put in the work. On paper, it can be seen as an easy fixture but we will accord them the respect they deserve and action on the pitch will determine how well prepared we are,” said Okere. 

“Our focus, for now, is to qualify for AWCON. We have been there and we know the challenges to expect in the qualifiers and the job at hand. Thereafter we can plan on the World Cup plan. The players in the local league are up to the task and we have been following on their progress before the league stalled. In my assessment, they are equal to the task. The foreign-based players will be a welcome boost to our qualification process,” added Okere.