Gladiators ‘not scared’ of Atlas Lionesses

The Brave Gladiators confront Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses in Marrakech today in the first of two second round African qualifying clashes between the two sides for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024.

Buoyed by home support and their heroic exploits at the recent Fifa Women’s World Cup, the Moroccans are heavy favourites to win the match-up with ease.

That will be the minimum requirement for the Lionesses led by Jorge Vilda Rodriguez who coached his native Spain to the world title glory in Australia and New Zealand, where Morocco reached the round of 16 during a historic debut campaign.

Rodriguez’s appointment is a strategic move to further build upon the North Africans’ historic achievement and make a significant impact on the global stage.

To prepare for Namibia, Rodriguez scheduled closed-door training sessions after retaining most of the history-making World Cup squad.

For Namibia, who will play both matches of the tie in Morocco, the plan is to blindside and unsettle their hosts, said Gladiators coach Paulus Shipanga. Being the underdog has privileges. One of them is being underestimated, an oversight the homeless travellers will look to exploit.

“It’s a boost for them [Morocco to have Rodriguez as coach] and it’s a motivation for us to play against the best to test ourselves. So, we’re not scared. On that day, it all depends on whether our players can come through and listen to what we say and execute what we did in training,” Shipanga said in an interview with the NFA website yesterday.

Namibia head into the clashes on the back of a lukewarm showing at the Cosafa Women’s Championships in South Africa, where they exited in the group phase minus some of their key players.

The Gladiators drew 1-1 with Botswana in their opener last month, then lost 2-1 to Zimbabwe before beating Lesotho 2-0.

“We had a chance to play Cosafa and through that we got to see what we need to need to improve on. It was a good preparation for us,” Shipanga said.

The Gladiators’ have fond memories from their last trip to Morocco which ended in two victories against Gambia in late September during Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

Confidence is not in short supply, said Shipanga.

“You gotta be ready for anything. We are preparing the players mentally,” he said. “The only challenge is the weather. We had to cancel training sessions because it was raining and we could not afford for the girls to catch a flu but we are working on that.”

There are only two spots for Africa at the 2024 Paris Olympics. CAF’s representatives will be known in April 2024, setting the stage for tough qualifiers with focus falling on the countries that played at the recent World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Reigning African champions, South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, who have made two prior Olympic appearances, hope to continue their journey with victory over Congo D, who are chasing their first Olympic ticket.

Nigeria, the only African nation to have participated in the Olympic tournament three times, are gearing up for their 2024 qualifying campaign against Ethiopia.

The Super Falcons, who faced an unfortunate exit at the last 16 stage in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, aim to rediscover their scoring prowess against Ethiopia, a team that has yet to qualify for a major global competition.

Africa’s fourth World Cup representatives, Zambia, have automatically advanced to the third round due to Mali’s withdrawal and now await their next challenge.