Having beaten Zambia and South Africa respectively in the first leg, Morocco and Nigeria are in a strong position to secure their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But Cooper Queens and Banyana Banyana have not yet said their last word.
It's the home stretch for qualifying for the women's soccer tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The two women's teams representing the black continent will be announced on Tuesday April 2.And Morocco is in a favorable position. The Atlas Lionesses stunned Zambia on home turf in the first leg. At home, the African runners-up are more determined than ever to secure their ticket to the Olympic Games. This would be a first for this talented Moroccan team. "Winning there 2-1 is a good result. Now we're at home and the first match is forgotten. All we have to do is win. It's not every day in a player's career that you get to play in an Olympic qualifier," said Elodie Nahla Nakash.
Zambia, aiming for a second consecutive appearance at the Olympics, have not yet said their last word. With their backs against the wall, the Cooper Queens are going all out to topple the Moroccans in Rabat. And there's no shortage of talent in the Zambian squad to beat the Atlas Lionesses. Coach Bruce Mwape will be able to count on his star strikers, Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji.
Another team hoping to buck the trend is South Africa.The reigning African champions were beaten by Nigeria by the narrowest of margins (1-0). A scoreline that keeps the Banyana Banyana alive, who are not at all downcast by their defeat to the Super Falcons in the first leg of the fourth and final qualifying round for the 2024 Olympic Games.
"As we look forward to tomorrow's match, we've also looked at the footage from the first game. We know we're better than what we showed in Nigeria. We can do much better than that, and I think the second half showed how well we can play.This is a game we have to win," said South Africa coach Desiree Ellis.For their part, the Nigerians are playing it safe.Nigeria last took part in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. The Super Falcons missed out on the London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games.
Schedule for Tuesday, April 9
5:30pm: South Africa-Nigeria
8pm: Morocco-Zambia
