By Paul Erewuba
Morocco will this evening in Rabat, Morocco, trade tackles with their South African counterparts in an epic final, which draws the curtain for this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nation.
Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses made history with their first-ever qualification for the Women’s World Cup after defeating Botswana during the quarter-finals of the WAFCON.
Striker Ghizlane Chebbak, who was voted the best player of the group stage, was designated “Woman of the Match.”
Jermaine Seoposenwe’s first-half strike was enough to help Banyana Banyana win the match and secure their second successive appearance at the World Cup.
On paper, South Africa will be favourites to emerge victorious, but Morocco has proven a worthy host who has done enough to earn a first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup and could disrupt South Africa’s hopes of winning the trophy.
No doubt, today’s final between Morocco and South Africa arguably marks a new era in African women’s football. With it, women’s football in Africa has reached the second phase of its development.
If the first phase was about the rise of a few superpowers, led by Nigeria, then the new phase is about a spread of teams rising to the top as the development of the game takes hold on the continent.
The championship final is between two teams that have never won the trophy, which has previously been dominated by Nigeria, who won 11 of the 13 WAFCON tournaments to date including the inaugural one in 1991. South Africa beat Zambia and Morocco beat Nigeria to set up the final.
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