The beauty of football is that there is always an opportunity to bounce back. At best in the next match, at worst in the next edition of a competition.
ASFAR will at least have the consolation of knowing that although their adventure in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™ came to an end on Sunday with a 4-0 defeat to Gotham FC in the third-place play-off, they can already look forward to returning. The tournament, which pits the six continental champions against each other, will take place every year, except in years when the future FIFA Women’s Club World Cup™ is held.
Of course, they will have to qualify again, as the Moroccans did by winning their second African Champions League last November. In the meantime, the experience gained in this first edition of the tournament has made them eager to try again.
“I really want to come back [to this competition], to play in a professional tournament like this and high-level matches”, said Zineb Erroudany at full-time. “It was a new competition for us, for the Africans, and we saw what the professional level was like. We are working hard to improve and progress in terms of level.”
“We have now discovered the level we need to reach, and we have to work hard to perhaps gain a better tactical understanding”, added captain Hanane Ait El Haj. “We also probably need to work a little more on our physical preparation. Maybe next time we’ll be better prepared than this year.”
Although the Army club failed to find the net in the final phase in London, coach Mohamed Amine Alioua believes there were positives to take from the tournament.
“It’s true that the girls put in a lot of effort, they showed a lot of grit and aggression”, said the 39-year-old at the post-match press conference. “I feel that it was a very good experience and we performed very well. We didn’t manage to get the scores we wanted and in some respects, we weren’t at our best, but this is the first edition of the Champions Cup, and we are one of the four best teams in the world.
“The new challenge or the new goal is that next season, we come here to achieve something. The honour and privilege is not just to play, but to achieve something, at least to perform better than this year. But in any case, it’s still an experience where we’ve learned a lot.”
“In football, you always have to improve”, concluded Ait El Haj. “So we have to improve as players but also as a team. And maybe next time we’ll be better.”
The tournament has barely ended for the Moroccans, but they have already begun their comeback.
