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Kenya will hope to have luck and favour on their side when they tackle Australia in the Fifa Series final today.
Harambee Starlets booked their place in the final after a composed 2-0 victory over India at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.
Goals from Martha Amunyolete early in the game and Tereza Engesha in the second half saw Beldine Odemba’s side begin the tournament on a strong note in front of home supporters.
Australia, however, arrive in the final as favourites after a solid 5-0 win over Malawi.
The Matildas displayed their tactical discipline and attacking quality, showing exactly why they rank among the world’s elite women’s sides. The Matildas boast a squad littered with established international players, and their experience at the highest level will present a big challenge for Kenya.
They are currently preparing for the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup and have been competitive on the global stage consistently, including a fourth-place finish at the 2023 tournament, which they hosted.
With Chelsea legend Sam Kerr and Arsenal’s duo of Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord among their ranks, this will perhaps be Harambee Starlets’ most daunting test yet in recent times.
This will be the first time they meet Kenya in a Fifa-sanctioned tournament. On paper, the visitors are the much-favoured side to emerge victorious, considering they are ranked 15th in the world, a stark contrast to Kenya’s 134th.
The Aussies boast a solid pedigree globally, and head coach Joe Montemurro is relishing the prospect of facing just more than 11 Kenyan players, but thousands of “hostile” fans in the final.
“That’s what we are here for. We hope there are 18,000 or 20,000 people. We are here to learn different cultures,” he said during the pre-match press conference yesterday.
Being of Italian descent, the manager, who has been dubbed the “Pep Guardiola of women’s football”, hopes to use the Kenyan crowd to evaluate how his squad performs in regions where almost all fans are against them.
He stressed that the key goal of travelling to Nairobi for the Fifa Series was for the Matildas to step out of their comfort zone, being the first time they have had to play African sides in Africa.
“We’re here to simulate difficult conditions, to simulate hostile crowds, to simulate different things that we don’t get in Asia or in Australia. So for us, the more the challenge, the more we learn,” he said.
Despite the difference in rankings, Starlets coach Odemba thinks the game is significant in helping the team prepare for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) and the World Cup Qualifiers, even labelling it a ‘mini World Cup’.
“We have changed our language while in camp. Right now, we are not going to play WAFCON, we are playing World Cup Qualifiers,” she said.
Starlets forward Valerie Nekesa has put fear on the back burner, promising to deliver full effort against the Aussies.
“The coach has prepared us well mentally, and we have promised that we are going on the pitch to repay the trust and effort she has put in us. We will go in there and give our best to come away with a positive result,” she added.