Yei Joint Stars President Sets CECAFA Final Target Despite Heavy Preseason Defeat
Yei Joint Stars president Eng. Lemi William says the South Sudan Women’s Champions are targeting a place in the CECAFA Women’s Championship final despite the team’s heavy 10-1 preseason defeat to Future Stars Football Academy U17.
Speaking to Sports Hunter South Sudan after the friendly at Zahra Playground, Lemi said the defeat does not change the club’s ambitions ahead of their sixth appearance in the regional competition.
Lemi acknowledged that the team still has work to do but insisted that preparations are progressing well ahead of the tournament, which begins on August 21.
«“We are almost 99% prepared, but we just have 1% to put things in order,” Lemi said.»
The Yei Joint Stars president said mental preparation will be particularly important as the team looks to improve on its previous CECAFA campaigns.
Yei Joint Stars have participated in the competition on five previous occasions but have consistently failed to progress beyond the group stage.
“We need to reach the final. We have never gone beyond the group stage,” Lemi said.
The president believes changes within the club, including putting the right people in place and improving the technical preparation of the players, can help Yei Joint Stars make history in Rwanda.
“We have decided to put in the right people, to give the girls the skills that are needed so that we can compete with the rest of the countries,” he added.
The South Sudan champions will now look to use their remaining preparation period to address weaknesses before travelling to Rwanda.
