Odemba confident Harambee Starlets will find their finishing touch in Tunisia

The Harambee Starlets were held to a goalless draw by Tunisia in their Women's Africa Cup of Nations 2026 qualifier at the Ulinzi Sports Complex, leaving them with a crucial task ahead of the return leg on Wednesday, 26th February, in Tunis.

Despite dominating the game and creating several clear-cut chances, Kenya struggled to convert opportunities into goals. Head coach Beldine Odemba, while acknowledging the disappointment of not securing a home win, remained optimistic about the second leg.

"We played well; we were tactical against them. You could see that we utilised our wings and created a lot of chances, but we just didn't take them. We played with two number nines, which is something we will review in training. But believe me, it's going to be a very different game. Playing at home and playing away are two completely different matches," Odemba stated.

She expressed confidence in her squad’s tactical superiority and indicated that the team would approach the away match with a more open strategy to secure the much-needed goals. "Tactically, I know, and we have seen, that we are better than them. We will also open up the game because we need to score goals. We played according to plan; we just need to assess what works for us now and what we still need to improve."

Vivian Corazon Aquino echoed her coach’s sentiments, attributing the missed chances to bad luck but affirming that the team had identified areas for improvement. "I think we controlled the entire match, but luck was not on our side as we failed to utilise our chances. However, we have seen our mistakes, and we still have some days to go and make corrections."

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohammed commended the Starlets’ efforts and expressed confidence in their ability to deliver in the second leg. "The game has been good. We had good chances, and our ladies did their best. We have high hopes that when they go to Tunisia next week, they will bring home good results. I think we will put a little more effort into the preparations. There is room for improvement, and I'm sure the team will do better next time."

Principal Secretary Peter Tum shared similar optimism, congratulating the team for what he described as a strong performance despite the draw. "We want to congratulate these young girls for a good, spectacular tournament that they displayed this afternoon. They may have drawn, but when you watch the game, they did a good job. We are happy with the preparations, and we believe they will put up a strong fight in Tunisia."

On the other hand, Tunisia's head coach Kamel Saada acknowledged Kenya’s strength and identified key players who posed a threat to his side. "Kenya is a good team, a power team. They have good players—number 40, 9, 17, and number 21 is a technical player; she is crucial to the team. Player number 2 is also a good player, which is why we must focus on them. But a match in Tunisia is a difficult one."

The stage is set for a decisive showdown in Tunis, where Kenya will need to be clinical to keep their WAFCON qualification hopes alive.

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