Under the headline “HM the King’s vision is key to victory over Brazil,” the newspaper notes that the wise royal vision to develop football in the country has borne fruit, as evidenced by the recent successes of the Atlas Lions.
In a match where both teams paid tribute to football legend Pele who died last December, Soufiane Boufal and Abdelhamid Sbiri struck either side of half-time to send celebrations across the country, he noted.
The media outlet indicates that Casemiro, captain of the Selecao, had scored the only goal for Brazil in the 67th minute before Sabiri made it 2-1 for the Atlas Lions in the 79th minute.
Morocco, which is part of the same group as Bafana Bafana, has thus confirmed its status as the leading African football nation, adds the South African newspaper, noting that the 2-1 victory over Brazil comes a week after the Moroccan football team became the first African nation to qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Basically, the victory over the five-time world champions proves that their (Atlas Lions’) exploits at the Qatar 2022 World Cup were no fluke,” he added.
And to recall, in this regard, that “the North African giants beat Portugal, led by Ronaldo, by (1-0) during the Qatar World Cup to become the first African and Arab team to reach the semi-finals of the Football World Cup.”
In the same vein, “FARPOST” echoed the statements of the coach of the national team Walid Regragui and that of the South African selection, Pitso Mosimane, who both attributed the success of Moroccan football and sport to the great vision of HM King Mohammed VI.
“His Majesty King Mohammed VI has invested a lot of resources to advance football in Morocco,” Regragui was quoted as saying by the newspaper. He said the key to this success was the Mohammed VI Football Academy that opened in 2009 in Rabat, arguing that the state-of-the-art facility identifies young talent across Morocco.
Youssef En-Nesyri, hero of the goal in the quarter-final of the World Cup in the 1-0 victory against Portugal, is a product of the Academy, the newspaper underlines.
In this context, “FARPOST” quoted the words of the Advisor to the President of the Moroccan Football Federation, Omar Khyari, for whom the victory over the powerful Brazil is proof that the great vision of HM the King to develop football is bearing fruit.
“Today’s victory is the result of the noble initiatives of the Sovereign and his great projects not only for football, but also for all sports. Beating Brazil is an immense moment of pride for Morocco,” he said.
He added that HM the King’s vision has also elevated women’s football, with the national team reaching the final of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations last year and will compete in its first World Cup later this year.
“Our Futsal team won the 2020 Africa Cup of Nations,” MM Khyari told “FARPOST.”
2024-08-19 18:05:47