Harambee Starlets Coach Identifies Key Areas of Improvement Before WAFCON 2026 After Back-to-Back Defeats

Harambee Starlets coach Beldine Odemba has shed light on some of the key lessons her team learnt in their two friendly matches against Benin and Ivory Coast.

Starlets lost 2-0 to Benin on Monday before a 1-0 defeat to the Ivorians on Wednesday with both matches played at the Alassane Ouattara Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Abidjan.

In both matches, Kenya’s lack of concentration in key moments was exposed while they also created chances and failed to utilise them and these are among things Odemba thinks need to be addressed quickly before the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations set to take place from March 17 to April 3.

“International friendlies give you the real picture of where your team is and what to work on,” Odemba said after the match.

“We really need to work with the girls mentally and physiologically and then we need to sharpen our attack, we need to start getting goals. We are creating chances but not scoring goals so we really need to work on scoring goals,” she added, picking out key lessons from the two matches.

Another area of improvement is on team cohesion and exposure where the former Kenya Police Bullets boss feels her new players badly need before the continental tournament begins.

“It is very much important for us to have international friendlies, we have played before but the team has changed so the new girls in the team need to understand what the international stage is and such international friendlies give us that feeling,” she added.

“The friendlies have also assisted us in seeing the team as it is and the combination of different players and from now, we have time to still work on the team.”

Odemba’s team will head to Miramas, France for a 10-day residential training camp which will give her and the players time to work on the weaknesses identified in the friendly ties.

Kenya, who are set to make a second WAFCON appearance, 10 years since their debut, are in Group A which has Morocco, finalists in the last two editions, as well as Algeria and Senegal, who both reached the quarter-final in 2024.