Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya’s Rising Starlets will carry a narrow advantage into the second leg of their FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifier after Elizabeth Mideva struck late to hand the hosts a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Tanzania at the Ulinzi Sports Complex on Saturday.
The match remained tense and evenly balanced for long spells, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances as midfield battles and compact defensive shapes dominated proceedings, leaving the tie hanging in the balance deep into the second half.
Kenya, however, found the breakthrough in the 84th minute when Mideva stepped up to deliver the decisive moment. They finished off a late attacking move to send the home crowd into celebration and give the Rising Starlets something valuable to protect ahead of the return leg.
The hosts had earlier shown discipline and patience. In particular, after Tanzania introduced attacking substitutions in the second half, with the visitors pushing higher up the pitch in search of an away goal, only for Kenya’s backline to hold firm under pressure.
Head coach Jackline Juma praised Starlets for grinding out the result, saying the three points were crucial heading into the decisive leg away from home. “I thank God for the maximum points. The girls have done a good job, and moving forward, we have something to protect,” she said, adding that the players had shown good adaptation to the match conditions.
Juma noted that while some players had impressed in training, the real test was always going to be the match day. She said she was satisfied with the overall response, even after Tanzania’s substitutions threatened to swing momentum. “The substitutions Tanzania made could have brought us down, but we remained alert,” she said.
Tanzania head coach Marco Kazobe, meanwhile, congratulated Kenya for the win but blamed the playing surface for his side’s defeat, arguing it affected their approach and performance.
“Our approach wasn’t as good, and the pitch wasn’t of quality. Your plan to bring us to such a pitch has borne fruit. I’m happy with the margin. Such a loss is too small for me,” he said.
Kazobe insisted his team would be stronger at home, adding, “We did not play in our range because if we did, we would have won. We go home to play on a better pitch.”
The result leaves the tie delicately poised ahead of the return leg scheduled for February 14 at the Azam Complex in Dar-es-salaam, where the Rising Starlets will aim to defend their 1-0 lead to progress to the next round of the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
