South Sudan’s national women’s football side, Bright Starlets, went down 8-0 to Harambee Starlets in a one-sided encounter played at the Nyayo National Stadium as the campaign for a return to continental football for the home side began.Great team performance from the entire team. Pure class from Neddy Atieno! #HarambeeStarlets #AWCONQualifiers pic.twitter.com/JnXCOGtHlj— Wendy Achieng (@aawendy15) October 20, 2021 Despite guiding a relatively young squad in their first-ever Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier, head coach Shilene Booysen was not impressed by their display and did not shy away from expressing her disappointment in the post-match interview. “The first four goals are basically what we had planned for yet the players did not respond. Playing according to instructions is still proving hard for the team. We had a game plan but the players did not stick to it. We knew Harambee would attack from the wings, which they did, and yet we allowed them to. The player are still struggling to find their feet. They are a new team that was brought together maybe five months ago and we have trained together for the last two months. It will take time for the team to get where they are supposed to be. Every opportunity we get to play is an opportunity to grow,” said Booysen. Neddy Atieno starred for Harambee, scoring the five including a hat trick in the first half that ended 4-0 in favour of the home side and adding two in quick succession on the 56th and 61st minutes of the game. Gentrix Shikangwa grabbed a brace with Mwanalima Adam scoring the other goal for Harambee. “We had a 28-minute window between the second goal and the third where we were able to hold Harambee. That is probably the clip I will review with the players as what worked there and what did not work is the main thing we have to focus on going into the return leg. We will not have much time to make any changes but if we can stick to the game plan I believe we will play a better game in the return match,” she added. Booysen, who holds a CAF A License was the Performance Analyst for South Africa’s team at the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Championship before joining the South Sudanese national team on a two-year contract.
