By Kei Emmanuel Duku
South Sudan’s U-20 Women’s national team secured their spot in the second round of the FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifiers after a resounding 8-0 victory over Djibouti at Juba Stadium over the weekend.
Aniet Wek Maduok set the tone early, netting a hat-trick within the first 20 minutes. Nancy Joseph and Kayungu Vivian Igga added three more goals in the 15th, 19th, and 40th minutes, cementing Coach Simon James Yor’s side’s dominance against the Djibouti U-20 national team.
The second half saw the hosts-Dibou maintain their dominance, however, Kayungu Vivian scored her third international goals, completing a hat-trick on her national team debut in the 70th minute.
Vivian joined teammate Aniet Wek Maduok as the match’s hat-trick heroines. Substitute Nyamam Makuac later added the eighth goal, securing a tie against Malawi in the next round of the FIFA U-20 qualifiers, scheduled for September.
Having won the first leg 5-0, the Bright Starlets progressed with a 13-0 aggregate score. Notably, hat-trick star Vivian missed the first leg while captaining her school, Moyo Star SS, at the Inter-Secondary School Competition in Bukedea District, Uganda.
Vivian expressed her gratitude to coach, Simon James Yor, for his trust in her abilities, especially after missing the first game and having limited training time with the national team before earning a starting position in the return leg against Djibouti.
“I used to struggle with drills – passing, running, and controlling the ball – but since joining the national team, my coach has consistently supported and encouraged me,” Vivian stated. “My scoring ability has improved significantly in my short time with the team; perhaps my coach is the reason behind my three goals today.”
She further revealed that she had never played as a winger before but was surprised to be deployed in that position against Djibouti.
“Today’s performance is great; playing as number 7 for the first time in my career and scoring three goals is quite impressive,” she added. “The most important thing is not the position you’re playing but the new skills you learn in the process. I may not have performed up to expectation yesterday, but I am still adapting to my mentor’s expectations.”
Meanwhile, Coach Simon James Yor affirmed that he had been closely monitoring Vivian’s performance, including her games in the recently concluded Inter-Secondary School Games in Bukedea.
He noted that Vivian had only three training sessions with the U-20 Women’s national team and that he was equally impressed with her performance in both training and the match against Djibouti.
“From the first day, as a coach, you can differentiate between a player and an amateur by their demeanor in training. Vivian is a player; she trained with us for three days, and today she scored three goals. Given time, she can perform beyond expectations,” Coach Yor concluded.