When the Atlas Lionesses face two-time former champions Germany in Melbourne they will be the first Arab team to play at a Women’s World Cup.
Months after the men’s groundbreaking run to the semi-finals in Qatar, Morocco’s women will make World Cup history of their own on Monday.
When the Atlas Lionesses face two- time former titleholders Germany in Melbourne they will be the first Arab platoon to play at a Women’s World Cup.
It has not gone unnoticed in a country frenetic about football and still buzzing from what their men did at the Qatar World Cup in December.
“ They will do just as well as the men, ” said 14- time-old Rabab Tougha after a training session at the football academy of the original club in the Casablanca neighbourhood of Avadas.
It’s her ambition to play the sport internationally, “ especially after what the Atlas Lionesses have done ”.
Morocco’s women enjoyed a surprise run to the final of last time’s Africa Cup of Nations, which they hosted, before losing 2- 1 to South Africa in front of over 50,000 observers in Rabat.
That was followed by the men’s remarkable performance in Qatar when they came the first African and first Arab platoon to reach the semifinals of the World Cup, where they lost to France.
Those performances have encouraged girls to take up football and the number of players registered at the Avadas academe– for youths who frequently come from depressed families– has increased to further than 50 from about 10 a time ago.
“The girls are motivated and want to learn how to play football ” after seeing the success of the men’s and women’s public brigades, trainer Mohamed Jidi told AFP.
“We can see the impact. We had a girl who played rugby, others who played basketball or did calisthenics. But also they all wanted to start playing football because they decided there was a future in it. ”
Morocco is in Group H at the Women’s World Cup and as well as Germany will face South Korea and Colombia.
They’re one of the smallest- ranked brigades in Australia and New Zealand and it would be a surprise if they get out of the group, but captain Ghizlane Chebbak knows the men have raised prospects.
“Moroccan suckers have that passion, as do us players, and we will give everything to make them satisfied, ” she told FIFA.com.
“The men have shown us that nothing is insolvable if you fight for it and you stay focused, ” she added.
That women’s football is growing in fashionability in Morocco is thanks to a development strategy put in place in 2020.
“The confederation invested in women’s football. Since also, smarts have changed and the interest and elaboration are palpable, ” Khadija Illa, chairman of the Moroccan women’s league, told AFP.
In 2021, the North African area set up a two- division professional women’s league with 42 clubs, each of which committed to also launching brigades at Under- 17 and Under- 15 position.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation picks up 70 percent of the charges of each club, where players earn a minimal payment of 3,500 dirhams ($ 360) per month in the top flight and 2,500 dirhams in the alternate league. The average yearly payment in Morocco is$ 400.
“Its success is reliant on a sporting policy that works and fiscal help. ” said Illa, a former professional player. Know More Latest Women’s Football News…
