When the Atlas Lionesses face two-times former champions Germany in Melbourne they will be the first Arab team to play at a Women’s World Cup.<\/p>\n
It has not gone unnoticed in a country mad about football and still buzzing from what their men did at the Qatar World Cup in December.<\/p>\n
“They will do just as well as the men,” said 14-year-old Rabab Tougha after a training session at the football school of the local club in the Casablanca neighbourhood of Avadas.<\/p>\n
It is her ambition to play the sport internationally, “especially after what the Atlas Lionesses have done”.<\/p>\n
Morocco’s women enjoyed a surprise run to the final of last year’s Africa Cup of Nations, which they hosted, before losing 2-1 to South Africa in front of over 50,000 spectators in Rabat.<\/p>\n
That was followed by the men’s remarkable performance in Qatar when they became the first African and first Arab team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, where they lost to France.<\/p>\n
Those performances have encouraged girls to take up football and the number of players registered at the Avadas academy — for youths who often come from underprivileged families — has increased to more than 50 from about 10 a year ago.<\/p>\n
“The girls are motivated and want to learn how to play football” after seeing the success of the men’s and women’s national teams, coach Mohamed Jidi told AFP.<\/p>\n
“We can see the impact. We had a girl who played rugby, others who played basketball or did athletics. But then they all wanted to start playing football because they decided there was a future in it.”<\/p>\n
Morocco are in Group H at the Women’s World Cup and as well as Germany will face South Korea and Colombia.<\/p>\n
They are one of the lowest-ranked teams 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 expectations.<\/p>\n
“Moroccan fans have that passion, as do us players, and we will give everything to make them satisfied,” she told FIFA.com.<\/p>\n
“The men have shown us that nothing is impossible if you fight for it and you stay focused,” she added.<\/p>\n
– ‘Palpable change’ –<\/p>\n
That women’s football is growing in popularity in Morocco is thanks to a development strategy put in place in 2020.<\/p>\n
“The federation invested in women’s football. Since then, mentalities have changed and the interest and evolution are palpable,” Khadija Illa, president of the Moroccan women’s league, told AFP.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the North African kingdom set up a two-division professional women’s league with 42 clubs, each of which committed to also launching teams at Under-17 and Under-15 level.<\/p>\n
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation picks up 70 percent of the expenses of each club, where players earn a minimum salary of 3,500 dirhams ($360) per month in the top flight and 2,500 dirhams in the second tier. The average monthly salary in Morocco is $400.<\/p>\n
“Its success is reliant on a sporting policy that works and financial help.” said Illa, a former professional player.<\/p>\n
“The more you invest, the better results you get.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":31933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4],"tags":[7,14,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-31936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-sports","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n