Against All Odds: How Harambee Starlets triumphed in Tunisia

Harambee Starlets celebrate after securing an important 1-0 win in Tunis (C) FKF Media

By Michael Kirwa
Friday, February 28, 2025

Harambee Starlets won that match 1-0 to progress to the next phase of the qualifiers and, as a result, made history by becoming the first Kenyan team to win an away match against North African opposition. The first leg, which was played on Friday, 21 February, in Nairobi, ended 0-0.

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) National Executive Committee (NEC) Member for the Nyanza Region, Collins Kalee, has praised the mental resilience of the Harambee Starlets after they triumphed over Tunisia’s attempts to unsettle them ahead of their crucial WAFCON 2026 First Qualifying Round second-leg clash in Sousse, Tunisia, on Wednesday.

Harambee Starlets won that match 1-0 to progress to the next phase of the qualifiers and, as a result, made history by becoming the first Kenyan team to win an away match against North African opposition. The first leg, which was played on Friday, 21 February, in Nairobi, ended 0-0.

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However, Starlets' march to that historic victory was not without overcoming efforts by the Tunisians to frustrate them ahead of the match.

"First, they changed the venue of the match from Tunis to Sousse, which is 150 kilometres away from the Tunisian capital. We had to take a 2-hour bus ride to reach there," Kalee, who was Kenya's Head of Delegation, told The Eastleigh Voice.

Apart from changing the venue of the match, the Tunisians also insisted on a change of kick-off time from 2 p.m. local time to 4 p.m., thereby subjecting Harambee Starlets to harsh weather conditions.

"Going by the initial weather forecast, the Tunisians most likely feared that playing at 2 pm would have favoured since at that time of the day, Sousse is a bit warmer. However, they changed the kick-off time to 4 p.m., and the match was played in chilly and windy conditions," Kalee said before adding that, despite the hosts' efforts to frustrate them, Starlets was confident of securing a win as they had prepared well for the match.

"As a federation, we made sure that the players were comfortable in camp and also ensured that they used proper training grounds, as Kasarani and Nyayo are still under renovation," Kalee said.

"Starlets have senior players who play professionally all over the world, and their experience had a calming effect on the rest of the team," Kalee added.

Kalee also thanked the government for chartering a plane for the players; with the lack of direct flights between Nairobi and Tunis, using commercial flights would have subjected the team to long connecting flights.

"Using a chartered plane ensured we saved time and that the team was less fatigued when they arrived in Tunisia," Kalee said.

As the deputy chair of the FKF Technical Committee, Kalee did not shy away from addressing speculations regarding the future of Harambee Starlets coach Beldine Odemba and her technical bench, with reports suggesting that they would be soon axed despite masterminding the Starlets' victory in Tunisia.

While addressing that issue, Kalee stated that the Federation is still in the process of evaluating the status of the technical benches of all senior and junior national teams.

"When we took over, we assured Beldine Odemba and her technical bench of our support since we were still new to the office and did not want to rush to make changes without giving everyone a fair chance to prove themselves," Kalee said before adding that any changes to the technical benches of the Harambee Starlets and other junior and senior national teams will be guided by the recommendations of the recently released report of the FKF Ad-Hoc Committee, which was instituted in December last year to audit the operations of FKF.

Kalee said, "Currently, members of the technical benches of Kenya's junior and senior national teams do not have contracts, and as part of our ongoing evaluation of those teams, that is one issue we will seek to address." The process may or may not result in changes to the Harambee Starlets' technical bench.

"Depending on what we will conclude from the evaluation process, we may decide to either reinforce or replace the technical aspects of the Harambee Starlets, but at the moment, Beldine Odemba has our full support," Kalee said.