Kenya hammer Angola in Fifa Under 20 World Cup qualifiers
Kenya players celebrate their opening goal during their 2024 Fifa Under 20 Women's World Cup qualifying match match against Angola at Estádio 22 de Junho in Luanda on October 14, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Beldine Odemba's charges had thrashed Angola 6-1 in the first leg at Nyayo National Stadium last Sunday.
Kenya on Saturday moved a step closer to qualifying for the 2024 Fifa Under 20 Women's World Cup after eliminating Angola in the second round of the qualifiers.
The Rising Starlets hammered the Southern Africans 4-0 in the return leg match at Estádio 22 de Junho in Luanda for a 10-1 aggregate victory.
Kenya striker Valerie Nakesa wheels away in celebration after scoring the opening goal their 2024 Fifa Under 20 Women's World Cup qualifying match match against Angola at Estádio 22 de Junho in Luanda on October 14, 2023.
Beldine Odemba's charges thrashed Angola 6-1 in the first leg at Nyayo National Stadium last Sunday.
Kenya and Angola were granted byes in the previous round due to the withdrawal of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan from the competition.
This allowed the two sides to progress to the second round without kicking the ball.
Kenya will now take on Cameroon in the third round after the Central Africans secured a 6-1 aggregate win over Botswana in their second-round tie.
Cameroon beat Botswana 2-0 in the first leg in Yaounde last weekend, before completing the job in Gaborone on Saturday with a thumping 4-1 victory.
Valerie Nekesa, who struck a hat-trick in the first leg at Nyayo, continued from where she had left it last weekend with an opening goal in the sixth minute to give Kenya the lead.
Kenyans living in Angola cheer the Kenya Under 20 women's national football team during their 2024 Fifa Under 20 Women's World Cup qualifying match against Angola in Luanda on October 14, 2023.
Anna Arusi added Kenya's second straight from a corner kick on 36 minutes before making it 3-0 in the 57th minute.
Even with the tie won, substitute Charity Midewa added the fourth in added time to confirm Kenya's place in the next round.
“It was a good game because we won but comparing it to the match we played at home last weekend, Angola must have gone to the drawing board to prepare well,” Kenya coach Odemba said after the match.
“We are going back home to prepare better. We will make a few changes to the squad ahead of the third round,” added Odemba.
Arusi is one of the three changes Odemba made to the starting line-up. Faith Atieno and Emily Okute were the other starters in Luanda who didn’t start the first-leg match in Nairobi.
They replaced Purity Atieno, Midewa, and Jerrine Adhiambo in the starting team. Midewa came on to score the fourth goal late on.
