In a statement to MAP, the coach of the Moroccan women’s A and U20 teams welcomed the “good conditions” in which the U20 women’s team prepared for this competition.
“The Federation provided us with the best conditions. We were in Austria, Rabat and Costa Rica, in absolutely professional conditions,” added Vilda.
The Spanish coach stressed that this is the first participation of a Moroccan U20 women’s team in a World Cup, adding that “like anything else, the first time is always special, because it is written in history.”
“The circle is now complete since all Moroccan teams participated for the first time in a World Cup,” he noted, stressing that this state of affairs is the result of the excellent work accomplished by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and its president Fouzi (Lekjaa), in favor of women’s football, which is beginning to bear fruit.
The U20 selection is made up of a “very young group, we have included three players who are still under 17, there are other players who are soon reaching the age limit (of 20) and many other players who will be under 20 for a while yet”.
Vilda recalled that her protégés have been preparing for the World Cup for two months, “while thinking about the future, because in the end, we clearly know that the work of all the minor categories is preparation for the A team.”
He considered that the presence in Colombia of the full technical corps of the A team allowed “to guarantee training in good conditions in terms of individual analysis and physical preparation.”
“Right now,” he added, “we are focusing on this World Cup, but we also think that next summer we will have an African Cup with the A team, which will also be organized in Morocco,” concluded Jorge Vilda, who was 2023 world champion with the Spanish team, of which he remained coach for 17 years.
For his part, the team’s assistant coach, Saad Guermane, explained that the choice made by the Federation to entrust Vilda with the reins of the women’s A and U20 teams responds to a professional logic which consists of harmoniously preparing the players who, in the end, will consolidate the A team.
Recalling that Morocco will organize five consecutive U17 Women’s World Cups from 2025, Saad Guermane affirmed that “the Moroccan model has greatly evolved in recent years and is recognized as one of the best in the world by FIFA.”
The Moroccan U20 women’s team, which is playing in Group C, will play its first match against Paraguay this Sunday (Monday at dawn Moroccan time) in Cali (460 km southwest of Bogota).
The other two matches in the group stage will see Morocco face the United States (September 4) and defending champions Spain (September 7).
2024-08-31 17:02:31