Yei Joint Stars suffered a 10-1 defeat against Future Stars Football Academy U17 in their final preseason friendly, but club president Eng. Lemi William says the result will not derail their preparations for CECAFA.
The South Sudan Women’s Champions endured a difficult outing at Zahra Playground, conceding ten goals against an FSFA U17 side as they concluded their local preparations.
Despite the heavy defeat, Lemi remained confident about the team’s readiness for the regional tournament.
He said the friendly was part of the club’s preparation process and that the technical team will use the remaining time to identify and correct weaknesses before travelling to Rwanda.
“We are almost 99% prepared, but we just have 1% to put things in order,” Lemi said.
The president also stressed that football preparation is not only about physical ability and tactics, but also mental readiness.
“Sport is not about getting the ball, but it’s about mental preparedness,” he said.
Yei Joint Stars have been drawn into the CECAFA competition for the sixth time and will be hoping to improve on five previous campaigns that ended at the group stage.
Lemi has set an ambitious target of reaching the final this time around.
The heavy preseason loss therefore provides the technical team with an opportunity to address defensive and tactical weaknesses before the team begins its regional campaign.
