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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Morocco looking to exceed expectations again in ‘special’ France clash

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FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Group H - Morocco v Colombia - Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth, Australia - August 3, 2023 Morocco's Anissa Lahmari celebrates scoring their first goal with Ibtissam Jraidi and Fatima Tagnaout REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo

Morocco’s clash with favourites France in the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday will be a special occasion for their players and coach Reynald Pedros as the tournament debutantes aim to continue their fairytale run by reaching the quarter-finals.

In one of the most unexpected outcomes of an already unpredictable group stage, Morocco reached the knockouts as runners-up to Colombia in Group H after beating the South Americans 1-0 while second-ranked Germany failed to advance.

Pedros, 51, is a former France international and said he was looking forward to taking on the country of his birth when the two teams face off in the last 16 in Adelaide.

“I am French but my heart is with Morocco,” Pedros told reporters on Monday. “It’s been three years since we’ve been working hard to get to these incredible objectives … It’s not a problem for me to win against France.

“I will do everything for us to qualify for the quarter-finals.”

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Pedros won consecutive Champions League titles as manager of Olympique Lyonnais in 2019 and 2020. Six members of France’s World Cup squad played under him at Lyon, including captain Wendie Renard and all-time top scorer Eugenie Le Sommer.

“A few of us are bi-national and some of us play in France, so we know the players well,” said defender Nesryne El Chad, one of six players in the Morocco squad plying their trade in France. “This match will be special for us.”

Morocco, the first Arab nation to compete at the tournament, were thrashed 6-0 by Germany in the opener but 1-0 upsets of higher-ranked South Korea and Colombia propelled them into the last 16.

Pedros said after the Colombia game that he had the advantage of knowing the France team “perfectly”. Beating France, ranked fifth in the world, would be a remarkable achievement for 72nd-ranked Morocco.

“This round of 16 is against an amazing opponent,” Pedros said. “We have to go up a notch with the game that we have done against Colombia, which was already a very high level for us.

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“We have to go beyond what we can do and what we can expect, because we would like to qualify for the quarter-finals.

“Of course, if we had been eliminated with six points, it would still have been fantastic for us. But we went further. Football is incredible, and you can never know what’s going to happen.”

-Reuters

 

 

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Falconets crash out from U-20 Women’s World Cup

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Japan survived a late scare against Nigeria to set up a re-match of the 2022 final with Spain in Sunday’s quarter-finals.

In rainy Bogota, Miyu Matsunaga’s free header just after the half hour was enough to send Japan to the break with a lead, as they have done at every match at Colombia 2024.

Maya Hijikata then doubled the advantage midway through the second term, tucking home a cross from substitute Chinari Sasai at the back post; that goal taking her joint-top of the adidas Golden Boot race with Brazil’s Vendito.

Olushola Shobowale did manage to pull one back for Nigeria in stoppage time but they couldn’t find a second as Japan hung on to close out the 2-1 win and set up that epic quarter-final clash with Spain. It is a re-match of the final match of the last edition in Costa Rica two years ago.  

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Colombia 2025: Falconets back in Bogota to trade tackles with Japan

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The team on return to Bogota on Wednesday.  

Africa’s biggest hope for podium appearance at the ongoing FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals, Nigeria, have returned to the Colombia capital, Bogota, ahead of Friday morning’s Round of 16 clash with Japan.

Japan, one of the strongest forces in women’s football globally, topped Group E that also included Austria, New Zealand and one of Africa’s flag-bearers Ghana. Ghana crashed out of the tournament after losing to Japan and Austria, and a narrow win over New Zealand.

The Falconets reached the Round of 16 after pipping Korea Republic 1-0 and losing 1-3 to Germany, and then earning a fabulous 4-0 win over Venezuela in Cali.

“The girls have worked very hard to get to this stage, and we are proud of their efforts. We will be taking the knockout stages one match at a time. I must tell you that we are excited at the prospects of facing Japan and what that brings forth,” Coach Chris Musa Danjuma said on his team’s return to the capital on Wednesday night.

The clash between Nigeria and Japan will hold at the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo in Bogota – where the Falconets played their first two matches of the group phase against Korea Republic and Germany – starting from 2am Nigeria time (8pm, Thursday in Colombia) on Friday, 13th September.

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

What a goal-laden day for Nigeria; Falconets also win with wide margin!

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Nigeria Super Falconets gave Nigerians  additional joy after their 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in Cali, Colombia in their last group match. Their victory followed up with an earlier 3-0 win by the Super Eagles in their opening Group D match with Benin Republic in Uyo.

 The Falconets’ win means they have qualified for the Round of 16 where they are most likely going to face Japan when the group games are completed on Sunday.

  Both Nigeria and Germany tied on six points, but Germany have one goal better than Nigeria on goal difference.

The Super Falcons made early hays when Amina Bello put Nigeria ahead after 16 minutes. Chiamaka Okwuchukwu doubled the lead in the 28th minute before Flourish Sebastine put in the third five minutes into the added time of the first half. Joy Igbokwe put in the back breaker four minutes into the added time of the second hald.

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