The coach of the Moroccan women’s football team, Reynald Pedro, expressed his hope that Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Colombia in Perth (Australia), which led to their qualification for the last 16 of the World Cup, would mark the “start of a great adventure”.
“I was pleasantly surprised by this (Moroccan) team because the players have understood that they can compete with the best. I hope this match will be the start of a great adventure,” Pedro stated in the post-match press conference.
Reflecting on the Atlas Lionesses’ progress and their ability to bounce back from the 6-0 defeat to Germany in their opening game to achieve this feat, Pedros commented, “the match was very special. It was a World Cup opener against a team that was playing to win it and had a huge amount of experience, whereas we’re going into this first participation with a bit of tiptoe and a lot of emotions.”
“So we went to work, we felt the players were very concerned, and we managed to give ourselves the right to play a small final against Colombia (after a 1-0 victory over Korea), knowing that even if we beat them, we had to have a little twist of fate,” he said.
“I think if we’re here today, it’s because we deserve it,” the coach concluded.
The Moroccan team, which remains the first Arab team to take part in a women’s World Cup finals, was beaten 6-0 by Germany on the first day, before overcoming the South Koreans on Day 2.