The Atlas Lionesses from Morocco will be seeking to get the perfect start off the mark when they take on Burkina Faso in the opening match of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) that starts on Saturday 2 July in Morocco.The Group A clash between the two sides will kick off the 12th edition of the expanded WAFCON and the first to be hosted by the Moroccans as 12 teams from the continent battle for the top prize and four available tickets to the 2023 Women’s World Cup set to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.🇲🇦 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐨 🆚 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐨 🇧🇫🏟 Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex.🏆 #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 opening game.📅 July 2. Who will prevail in the competition’s first encounter? 🤔#TeamMorocco | #TeamBurkinaFaso | #EmpoweringOurGame | @EnMaroc pic.twitter.com/F4fywYwlol— #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 (@CAFwomen) July 2, 2022 Going into the opener, Morocco, who are led by Reynald Pedros – a two-time European Women’s Champions League winner with Lyon – will be aiming to continue with their upward trajectory in the women’s game when they face debutants Burkina Faso at the Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat.After 22 years of absence from the competition and being the hosts, the Atlas Lionesses will look to do better than they did in their two previous participations in the tournament, when they failed to progress past the first round in 1998 and 2000.Automatically qualified as host country, Morocco is bolstered by the recruitment of the Frenchman Pedros as coach, but also the arrival of several players plying their trade in Europe, such as Tottenham striker Rosella Ayyane.The Moroccans have also had among the best preparations for the tourney playing no less than 14 friendly matches against opponents of different calibre, including Spain, Senegal and Ghana.“The group is our strength,” says team captain Ghizlane Chebbak, who added that “a lot has changed in the Moroccan national team since the arrival of this staff. Moroccans are increasingly following the performances of the women’s team. We hope to see a lot of people at the stadium on Saturday to support us and we hope to live up to their expectations.’’##NAJAVA_MECA_6486624##In turn Burkina Faso are participating in their very first WAFCON after a successful qualifying campaign in which Pascal Sawadogo’s players eliminated Benin 5-2 on aggregate and Guinea Bissau 7-0 on aggregate in impressive double-headed qualifiers.While tournament preparations have been somewhat hectic due to budgetary constraints that have forced Burkina Faso to be content with a training camp in Ouagadougou and a few friendly matches against Under 20 teams from local academies and clubs in the lead up to the tournament, the Ladies Stallions expect to give a good account of themselves.📸 #TeamBurkinaFaso 📸That’s the spirit we’d love to see in our competition! 😍#TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 | #EmpoweringOurGame pic.twitter.com/8TcfxvDikT— #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 (@CAFwomen) July 1, 2022 “The atmosphere is good within the group and the whole team is ready to play a good game. We left all our problems in Ouagadougou and we are focused on our competition,” Charlotte Millogo, team captain said.“I can’t talk about the strengths and weaknesses of our opponent but what I can say is that Moroccan women play good football. We will play to our qualities and we will bleed to win. I think our group is very balanced,” said Sawadogo.𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 1️⃣ 𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄! 🤩How excited are you about the return of the #TotalEnergiesWAFCON? 👀#TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 | #EmpoweringOurGame pic.twitter.com/JLTlqtL0wX— #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 (@CAFwomen) July 2, 2022 This is the first time that the two women’s teams of Morocco and Burkina Faso have met in an official competition. They faced each other in a friendly in October 2017 in Salé and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.Kickoff at 2330 EAT.
