July 04, (THEWILL) – At the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex, Morocco defeated a valiant Burkina Faso 1-0 to start their 2022 TotalEnergies Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) campaign.
The Atlas Lionesses had to work hard for their victory in Group A’s opening match of the competition, but they managed it thanks to skipper Ghizlane Chebbak’s goal in the 29th minute.
Playing in front of a fervent and loyal home crowd, Morocco was easily the better team on the evening and fully deserved their victory. Despite their domination, though, coach Reynald Pedros’ team found it difficult to defeat the Stallions, missing out on excellent second-half opportunities that fell to Rosella Ayyane and Imane Saoud.
However, the Moroccans encountered a goalkeeper in Mariam Ouattara who was in excellent form and stopped several of their attacks. Chebbak, whose goal won the match and who was named “Woman of the Match” and expressed her gratitude to the Moroccan supporters for their ardent support and large turnout.
To fulfil the objective of World Cup qualification, she urged them to “be just as present in the next meetings.” In their inaugural AWCON hosting, a semifinal appearance and automatic qualification for the FIFA World Cup would be an amazing accomplishment.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
