Kenyan girls face tough North Korea test in U-17 World Cup
Junior Starlets striker Lorna Faith (red) and England's Nelly Las battle for the ball during the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup at the Estadio Cibao stadium in Santiago, Dominican Republic on October 17, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The match will start at 4pm local time (11pm Kenyan time), and will be played some 189 kilometres away from the capital Santo Domingo.
- Junior Starlets, who are making their first appearance in the global age-group competition, lost 2-0 to England’s Young Lionesses.
Kenya’s Junior Starlets will aim to bounce back from Thursday’s 2-0 loss to England, when they play two-time champions North Korea tonight in their second Group ‘C’ match of the 2024 Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup at Cibao Stadium in the Dominican Republic’s second largest city, Santiago.
The match will start at 4pm local time (11pm Kenyan time), and will be played some 189 kilometres away from the capital Santo Domingo.
Junior Starlets, who are making their first appearance in the global age-group competition, lost 2-0 to England’s Young Lionesses.
Chelsea FC’s Lola Brown, and Arsenal striker Lauryn Thompson scored for England in the 29th and 87th minutes respectively.
England dominated Kenya, the Young Lionesses accounting for 64 per cent of ball possession compared to 24 per cent for Kenya.
The Kenyan girls managed one shot on target out of three attempts compared to seven attempts on target for England, showing the gulf in class between the two teams.
It is something Kenya’s coach Mildred Cheche must fix heading to tonight’s match against North Korea. Tonight’s meeting is the first between the two countries.
North Korea head to the match as favourites, having won the 2006 and 2016 editions.
North Korea and defending champions Spain, who won the title in 2018 and in 2022, are hot favourites to win the title.
In a post-match interview on Thursday, Cheche expressed optimism of a good performance from her team.
She said they would rectify defensive challenges in the team before today’s match.
“We shall put in a lot of effort in the next two games (against North Korea and Mexico),” Cheche said.
“Competing at the World Cup gives us a big platform to showcase what we are made of,” the coach, who took over the team in April, said. To get good results against North Korea, Cheche must address weaknesses in her team’s midfield that failed to support her striker.
Kenya played a 3-4-3 formation.
Defensively, Starlets captain Elizabeth Ochaka started on the left, with Christine Odhiambo at the center and Loline Ilavonga on the right wing.
For a while, the three effectively dealt with the threat from England, thwarting 20 goal-scoring opportunities.
Coach Cheche’s team must be wary of North Korean striker Choe Rim Jong who scored a hat-trick of goals in their first Group ‘C’ match against Mexico which they won 4-1.
Choe also gave an assist to Choe II Son in the match. The hugely talented Son was in North Korea’s Under-20 team that won the Fifa Under-20 World Cup title following a 1-0 win over Japan last month.
She also won the Golden Boot award with three goals in the tournament.
