“They will do as well as the men,” predicts Rabab. Like this teenager, more and more young Moroccans are taking up football, motivated by the trajectory of the Atlas Lionesses who, for their first participation in the Women’s World Cup, aim to repeat the feat of the men’s eleven in Qatar.
On the outskirts of the megalopolis Casablanca, a dozen schoolgirls are warming up on the ground of the football school of the neighborhood club Avadas, listening to their coach Mohamed Jidi. “I evacuate the negative vibes by playing ball, I feel good. This sport gives me self-confidence,” says Rabab Tougha, 14, after training. Her ambition is to become international – “especially after the feat of the Atlas Lionesses,” she told AFP. The women’s team signed, to everyone’s surprise, a good run at the last African Cup of Nations (CAN) in Morocco in July 2022, losing in the final to South Africa (2-1) in front of more than 50,000 spectators. “They spare no effort to best represent Morocco. We are proud of them”, adds Malak El Messaouri, 15, who considers football as his “only escape”.
This hope is also nourished by the historic epic of the men’s selection in Qatar in December, the first African and Arab team to qualify in the last four of a World Cup. The proof: a dozen members were registered last year at the Avadas training school, intended for young people often from poor families. Today, they are more than fifty. After the exploits of the men’s and women’s teams, “the girls are motivated and want to train in football”, notes coach Mohamed Jidi. “The impact is proven. Within the club, we had a girl who played rugby, others who practiced basketball or athletics… But they wanted to play football, they tell themselves that they have a future, “says the 63-year-old coach.
In this fanatical kingdom of football, the aura of the Atlas Lions fuels the enthusiasm for the national women’s eleven. “The men’s team never thought it was difficult to get to the half of a World Cup. They determined a goal and achieved it”, opines Houda Khalti, 16, fan of Moroccan goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi. Rabab, she believes that “without the exploit (of the Atlas Lions) the participation of the women’s team in the World Cup could have gone unnoticed, because Morocco had never reached such a level”. “This success feeds our confidence in them” approaching the tournament which takes place from July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, adds the young girl. The Moroccans will face the Germans, double world champions, the South Koreans and the Colombians.
“Moroccan fans have an incredible passion for football, like us players. So we will do everything to give them pleasure, ”promises the captain of the Atlas Lionesses, Ghizlane Chebbak, in an interview published on the FIFA website. “The men’s team showed us that nothing is impossible if we fight and stay focused,” she said. If today women’s football is beginning to enjoy a certain popularity in Morocco, it is thanks to a development strategy put in place in 2020. “The Federation has invested in women’s football. Since then, mentalities have changed, there is a palpable interest and evolution,” Khadija Illa, president of the Women’s League, told AFP.
Since 2021, the kingdom has had two professional divisions, whose clubs – 42 in total – are committed to forming teams under 17 and 15 years old. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) covers 70% of the expenses of each club, in particular the salaries of players who earn 3,500 dirhams (330 euros) minimum per month in the first division and 2,500 dirhams (230 euros) in the second, for an average monthly salary in Morocco of 360 euros. “Success depends on an efficient sports policy and financial aid. The more you invest in it, the more results you get”, comments Khadija Illa, former pro. From next year, Morocco wants to accelerate training to reach 90,000 female footballers and 10,000 technicians.
