NAIROBI, May 26 (Xinhua) -- National women's football team head coach David Ouma says they will beat Equatorial Guinea on the two legged qualifiers for the Africa Nations Cup.
Kenya will be hosting their west African rivals in Machakos on June 6 and have their return leg encounter away in Malabo a week later. The winner of the two legged clash will secure the ticket to the 11th edition of the African Women Cup of Nation to be held in Ghana from Nov. 27 - Dec. 1.
"There is passion and hunger in the squad and the girls have showed in training that they deserve to go to Ghana. The training is going on well and hopefully, with a sharp attacking line, we will be able to kill off the opponents in the first leg in Machakos," said Ouma, Saturday in Machakos.
Kenya beat Uganda in the preliminary rounds 1-0 on aggregate and hope to continue their good run with another victory against Equatorial Guinea.
"Response to the new tactics from the girls is promising. We will change a few styles and the new players I have summoned to camp have showed their interest to learn and fight for the starting lineup. We will also watch our defence and lock the opponents out," said the coach.
Ouma underscored the need to maintain a clean sheet saying the task ahead in Malabo will be twice hard.
"We really want to win this match and the secret is beating them at home and ensuring we don't concede. But we must also try to score away. But that can wait until we arrive in Malabo. For now we need to win this match at home," he added.
Equatorial Guinea, just like Kenya qualified for the women's tournament in 2016 in Cameroon and will be eyeing to return to the event for the fourth time. However, it will be Kenya's second show should they navigate past the west Africans and coach Ouma says it is a task they know the answer to.
"Equatorial Guinea are more experienced and have even featured at the Women's World Cup. But we have a young and ambitious team and they will have to be at their best to stop us," Ouma added.
Kenya had planned to compete at the regional CECAFA women's championships in Kigali, Rwanda but the tournament was cancelled for lack of funds at the eleventh hour. But Ouma says it will not water down their preparations.
