NAIROBI, Kenya, July 28, 2026 – Despite crushing Harambee Starlets to a pulp in their opening match of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), Morocco head coach Jorge Vilda had kind words for the opponents, hailing them as a vastly improved team.
The Spaniard said Starlets have improved in leaps and bounds since their last encounter in June last year, which the Atlas Lionesses won 5-1.
“I have to say congrats to Kenya for the improvement they have in the last year. We played last summer against Kenya and now it’s totally different. The team improved a lot, have better players, have more order, more tools to combine and to have chances of goal,” Vilda said.
His sentiments came in the wake of a 4-0 mauling of the East Africans at the Prince Moullay Stadium in Rabat on Sunday night.
It was a match in which Beldine Odemba’s charges were barely getting by for a majority of the 90 minutes.
A 3-0 walloping in the first 45 only told half of the story, Lilian Awuor’s heroics in goal helping to avoid the game from descending into a cricket score.
Vilda singled out the Romania-based netminder for praise, in addition to winger Fasila Adhiambo, skipper Mwanahalima ‘Dogo’ Adam and centre forward Terry Engesha.
He further warned Senegal — Kenya’s next opponents in Group A — to be wary of Odemba’s charges.
“We had to do our best to win this match. I think in the next game against Senegal…Senegal will have it very difficult to win because it’s a strong team and have very good players like number 2, number 9, number 21, the goalkeeper. They have a really good team and good training,” the gaffer said.
Starlets are making their second appearance at the continental competition, following their debut in 2016 in Cameroon, during which they lost all their matches.
Their nightmarish opener notwithstanding, Vilda’s kind words are the perfect ointment to soothe the pain of losing and replenish their mental energy to keep going in search of success at Wafcon 2026.
Kenyans will be hopeful that Vilda’s analysis come to pass when Starlets take to the pitch on Thursday against Senegal.
