This prestigious distinction “CAF President’s Outstanding Achievement Award”, presented by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and CAF President Patrice Motsepe to the Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, is intended as recognition of the efforts constantly deployed by the Sovereign for the promotion of national football.
Thus, the remarkable journey of the Atlas Lions at the Qatar-2022 World Cup will remain forever etched in the annals of the World Cup, especially since the Moroccan selection is the first African team to reach the last four of this global event. Reaching this stage of the competition, combined with the 11th place in the world that Walid Regragui’s men now occupy, was in no way the result of chance, but the culmination of a long-standing investment in sports infrastructure and technical support, particularly through the Mohammed VI Football Academy, which has seen several of its talents join the first team and make the heyday of Moroccan and European clubs.
Moroccan women’s football is also experiencing a great boom and will certainly end up shining in the firmament of continental football, after the qualification of the Atlas Lionesses for the final phase of the 2023 World Cup, scheduled for Australia and New Zealand. Along the way, the Moroccan players lost in the final of the African Cup of Nations, organized last July in the Kingdom, against Nigeria (2-1). Once again, this edition of the women’s CAN broke all records in terms of the quality of the participating teams and the presence of the public, but also of popular enthusiasm.
This means that Ghizlane Chebbak’s teammates will be called upon to honor the national colors during the first appearance of the Moroccan women’s team at the World Cup, where they will cross swords with Germany, Colombia and South Korea.
The Moroccan women’s under-17 team also qualified for the 2022 World Cup in the category, held in India. They won against the host country 3-0, but lost two matches against Brazil (0-1) and the United States (0-4).
Apart from this elimination in the first round, this generation of players has acquired good experience which will do them good in the next matches.
In the Women’s Champions League, AS FAR managed to win its first continental title at home. The military club won the final against South African side Mamelodi Sundowns by a score of 4 goals to 0.
In the men’s competition, the superiority of Moroccan clubs on the African scene was confirmed once again with the victories of Wydad Casablanca in the Champions League at the expense of Al Ahly of Egypt and Renaissance Berkane in the CAF Cup at the expense of South Africans Orlando Pirates.
Clearly, these exploits only confirm the prosperity of Moroccan football which, thanks to the High Royal solicitude and benevolence, will only garner performances and victories in order to raise the national colours very high.
2024-08-23 13:41:26