Fez – According to coach Jorge Vilda of the Moroccan national women’s team, the Atlas Lionesses are set to face Zambia’s skilled nation team in the fourth and decisive round of qualifiers for the 2024 Olympics.
Vilda announced the match in an interview with SNRTNews, where he added that he knows the Zambian national team very well. He had previously faced them in the World Cup finals in Australia, when he was coach of the Spanish national team.
“Things are quite clear for us. If we want to qualify for the Olympic Games, we have to rise up to the challenge against the Zambian national team. We have all the capabilities to qualify. We will face a strong opponent, and we have a whole month to prepare well for this match,” he concluded.
The Atlas Lionesses outperformed their Tunisian counterparts with a winning score of 4-1, at the Moulay El Hassan Sports Complex in Rabat, thus sealing their qualification for the final round of the qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games.
In the first leg that took place on February 23 in the Tunisian town of Soliman, Ghizlane Chebbak’s teammates emerged victorious with a score of 2-1, which paved the way to an easy qualification.
The president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), Fouzi Lekjaa, was present at the stadium to show his support, with Walid Regragui at his side.
Confident and supported by a large public, the proteges of coach Jorge Vilda lived up to expectations, deploying a particularly effective offensive game.
The Atlas Lionesses ended the first half with the undisputed score of 4-0, thanks to Fatima Tagnaout (11th minute) and Ibtissam Jraidi, author of a beautiful hat-trick (16th, 21st and 23rd minutes). They could, however, have added more goals with a little more precision and luck. In the second half, Tunisia managed to find the net on one occasion, which did not help the team’s case after conceding four goals earlier in the game.
The Moroccan team will meet, in the final round of these continental qualifiers, Zambia, who eliminated Ghana. This Morocco-Zambia duel is scheduled for next April.
Through their performance on the global stage, the Atlas Lionesses hope to inspire and encourage young female athletes to be unapologetic in their pursuit of a career in sports, eventually advancing the future of women’s football in Morocco.
Read also: National Women’s Football Team to Face Tunisia Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics
