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Rabat – Morocco has established its dominance in men’s football and is now looking to conquer women’s football, starting with the Aisha Buhari Cup in Nigeria.
While Moroccan women’s teams have yet to win any trophies in Africa, Hanane Ait El Haj, one of Morocco’s rising stars, is optimistic that this upcoming tournament might be an opportunity to change that.
Being part of the tournament’s Group A, Morocco will face the women’s teams from Mali and Nigeria as part of next month’s six-nation championship held in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos.
“We play against Mali a lot of times, so we know each other,” Al Haj said. “But it will be our first game with Nigeria and we know they are a big and strong team that always fight for titles,” she added.
Her ultimate goal is to win the tournament, and grow as a team. The 26-year-old football star told the Nigerian news outlet The Guardian that it will be a “very exciting competition,” especially considering the status of the teams participating in the tournament.
El Haj plays both as a forward for the Spanish Segunda Division Pro club Zaragoza CFF, as well as the Moroccan women’s national team.
In 2021 Morocco’s women’s national team, led by the head-coach Reynald Pedros, played two friendly games against Mali, defeating them both times. The June 10 game was a total defeat for Mali, with the score resting at 3-0 by the end of the game, while the following game was more evenly matched resulting in a 3-2 score in Morocco’s favor.
The women’s team’s aspirations come only a year after Morocco’s Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) unveiled their 2021-2024 development plan in August, 2020, aiming to raise the value of women’s football in Morocco. RMFF president Fouzi Lekjaa hoped to develop a strategy to make girls interested in football – allowing them to begin playing even during their school years.
