The Moroccan women’s team will cross swords on Saturday at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, in the final, with its South African counterpart, qualified at the expense of Zambia (1-0).
The Atlas Lionesses had a brilliant run in this continental competition, winning the group stage. They beat Burkina Faso (1-0), Uganda (3-1), Senegal (1-0), before beating Botswana in the quarter-finals (2-1) and reaching the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for the first time in the history of Moroccan women’s football.
The South African team also had a clean sweep, beating Nigeria (2-1), Burundi (3-1) and Botswana (1-0) in the group stage, before beating Tunisia (1-0) in the quarter-finals and securing their ticket to the World Cup.
This final promises to be fiercely contested between South Africa, which will spare no effort to be crowned, and the Moroccan national team, driven by the desire to win the first title in the history of Morocco and North Africa.
To achieve their goal and complete this journey in the best possible way, the national team players are called upon to concentrate throughout the match, avoid false passes and transform every opportunity in front of the South African net into a goal.
The factors of the ground and the public will play in favour of the Atlas Lionesses and will be an additional motivation to win the continental title, in particular after having overcome the Nigerians, favourites of this competition which they have won 11 times.
In this regard, the goalkeeper of the Moroccan women’s selection, Khadija Er-Rmichi, said that the group has been eager for this title for years, noting that the interest of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the means put in place have largely contributed to the development of women’s football in Morocco.
“The final is won and not played. South Africa showed a good level and the match will be contested between two strong teams. We will defend our chances and play this match, like the other matches, with great concentration,” she added.
For his part, the national coach, Reynald Pedros noted that “South Africa is a good team and this match will be a good final. Every match has been difficult since the start of the CAN. We hope to play well and win.”
Reynald Pedros did not hide his fascination with the Moroccan fans and their role in the qualification, noting that “it is an incomparable feeling when you feel all this enthusiasm, and the people who support us. I think the number of supporters was around 50 thousand and in all honesty, it was great.”
Moroccan fans will probably exceed the 45,000 who were present at the match against Nigeria, thus achieving a new record in the history of women’s football in Africa.
2024-09-05 03:27:35