{"id":91605,"date":"2023-05-05T17:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/lionesses-set-to-face-madagascar-in-africa-cup-opener"},"modified":"2023-05-05T17:12:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T17:12:00","slug":"lionesses-set-to-face-madagascar-in-africa-cup-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/lionesses-set-to-face-madagascar-in-africa-cup-opener","title":{"rendered":"Lionesses set to face Madagascar in Africa Cup opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Kenya Lionesses open the Africa Cup campaign against hosts Madagascar on May 18.<\/p>\n

The Lionesses, who bagged the Africa 1 A trophy last year in Kampala after beating hosts Uganda and Zambia, will then face powerhouses South Africa in their second match before concluding the preliminaries with a tricky tie against Cameroon.<\/p>\n

Speaking Thursday, head coach Dennis Mwanja, said they will take one game at a time as they seek to win the week-long championship. He exuded confidence that they will be competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been hard at work in training since January and at the moment, we are just polishing up on a few areas. The girls have worked hard in training and now it’s time to execute on the pitch,\u201d observed Mwanja.<\/p>\n

The KCB assistant coach described the Indian Ocean Islanders as tricky opponents.<\/p>\n

“By stature, they are very small but very quick. We have played them in previous matches and they have won and so we must be smart with our tactics and strategy. We must not underestimate them,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

The tactician said the South African game will be tough but noted the gap between the sides is narrowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur recent results against them have been good so from our side we will give it our all and go all out to win,” he added.<\/p>\n

Mwanja described Cameroon as an unknown quantity. \u201cAt this level, we are yet to play them and we don’t know much about them. We will have to study their videos and get ready for them,\u201d said Mwanja.<\/p>\n

Plans to play friendly matches against Brazil or Poland did not materialise due to a lack of funds, according to Mwanja.<\/p>\n

The coach is expected to name his 28-man squad next week and has predicted intense competition for places. \u201cSelecting the final team will be tough. Some girls have really put up their hand in training.”<\/p>\n

Mwanja said the ultimate goal for the squad will be to qualify for the next Rugby World Cup in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur long-term vision is for the girls to qualify for the Rugby World Cup and I am confident with the steps we are taking and with the support of everyone, we can achieve our dream.”<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Lionesses open the Africa Cup campaign against hosts Madagascar on May 18. The Lionesses, who bagged the Africa 1 A trophy last year in Kampala after beating hosts Uganda and Zambia, will then face powerhouses South Africa in their second match before concluding the preliminaries with a tricky tie against Cameroon. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[6857,7003,544],"class_list":["post-91605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-kenya","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nLionesses set to face Madagascar in Africa Cup opener - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/lionesses-set-to-face-madagascar-in-africa-cup-opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lionesses set to face Madagascar in Africa Cup opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Lionesses open the Africa Cup campaign against hosts Madagascar on May 18. The Lionesses, who bagged the Africa 1 A trophy last year in Kampala after beating hosts Uganda and Zambia, will then face powerhouses South Africa in their second match before concluding the preliminaries with a tricky tie against Cameroon. 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