"We still have some work to do" - Odemba reveals what Harambee Starlets need to improve on ahead of WAFCON
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Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 05.03.26. | 13:47
The team played two international friendlies in March, losing both without scoring
Harambee Starlets head coach Beldine Odemba says her team “still have some work to do” in the lead-up to their second appearance at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) scheduled for Tuesday, 17 March, to Friday, 3 April in Morocco.
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Odemba, speaking at the conclusion of Kenya’s pair of international friendlies against Benin and Ivory Coast, said there were aspects in the team that had been exposed, that she needed to mend going into the continental championships.
Serving as Starlets’ last friendlies before heading out to Morocco, Kenya suffered twin defeats - 2-0 to Benin and 1-0 to Ivory Coast - games which Odemba believes apart from the result, painted a good picture of what her team needed to polish up on.
“It is good that we have played international friendlies; they give you the real picture of where the team is, and what to work on,” the former Kenya Police Bullets coach said, delving deeper into her side’s urgent concerns.
“We really need to work with the girls mentally and psychologically, and sharpen our attack,” Odemba said, referencing the two friendly defeats that ended with her side without a goal.
“We need to start getting goals. We are creating chances, but not getting goals,” she added.
In the defeat to Ivory Coast on Wednesday, 4 March, Odemba handed out debuts to three of her players, including Diana Ochol, Eglay Mukhwana and Vidah Akeyo.
Of her 25-woman squad, Odemba has heavily banked on locally-based players, calling up 13, but still retaining abroad experience.
Speaking about blending the two groups together, the coach said: “It is very much important for us to have international friendlies. We have played before, but the team has changed, so again the girls who are new in the team need to understand what the international stage is, and friendlies always give me that feeling.
The friendlies have assisted us in seeing the team as it is, to see the combination of different players, and from now, we have time to still work on a few things.”
As it stands, the Starlets squad is expected to embark on a residential training camp in Miramas, France, that will run until Sunday, 15 March, before heading to Morocco for the WAFCON.
“The last time Kenya qualified for WAFCON we lost all our matches,” Odemba said of Starlets’ WAFCON debut in 2016. “We are looking forward to make it better than we did last time.
We have seen teams like Ivory Coast; that is the third time we played them, and they have given us that feeling of what to expect.
In our group, we have just not played Senegal, but we have played both Algeria and Morocco. We still have some work to do, and I am glad that there is time, and we can work on things.”