Having escaped with a point from their opening game, Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) hosts Morocco will be looking to assert themselves in their second game of the tournament on Wednesday.
Morocco take on the Democratic Republic of Congo at Rabat’s Stade Olympique, where they will be fancied to win and take a giant leap towards participating in the knockout stages.
Runners-up at the last Wafcon, which they also hosted, Morocco are one of the favourites for this tournament, but they had to scramble a late equaliser to draw 2-2 with Zambia in Saturday’s opener.
A win over the Congolese, who lost 4-0 to Senegal in their Group A opener in Mohammedia on Sunday, would, however, take Morocco to four points and effectively ensure their progress to the last eight.
The intensity of the clash against Zambia, and the quality of their southern African opponents, looked to surprise the Moroccans, but their coach Jorge Vilda thanked the players "who fought against a strong team" adding that "they played at a good pace, especially in the second half, in a high-intensity match".
"The substitutions helped us recover and get back into the game. The team will certainly improve as the matches go on," he assured, continuing: "The draw is still a good result, and we will aim for victory in the upcoming matches.”
"Zambia is a strong team with great players. The opening match is always difficult. The Moroccan team showed its ability to play good football," added Vilda, who won the last Women’s World Cup with Spain.
STRONG WARNING
First up on Wednesday in Mohammedia, Zambia take on Senegal, whose first-half demolition of DR Congo on Sunday sent out a strong warning about their capability, and Copper Queens defender Lushomo Mweemba is obviously cautious.
“The game against Senegal will be tough because they are coming from a win against DR Congo and have three points,” she said.
“We have played them before at the last Wafcon. We know their style of play, but we need to prepare adequately because the game will not be easy.”
Senegal coach Mame Moussa Cissé said the clash with Zambia had been earmarked as key to their chances to advance.
“We knew the start of this competition would be very important, because we're in a tough group,” he said.
But they have their tails up after the win over the Congolese. “We had a tough opponent, the formidable DRC team. We tried to take advantage of their weaknesses. We scored three goals in the first 20 minutes, which is what we wanted.
“Now, we have to forget what we did well, in order to focus on what we still need to do better. That's how the team will progress," Cissé added.