Morocco’s Jorge Vilda wary of cohesive Senegal in decisive WAFCON clash

Morocco women’s national team head coach Jorge Vilda has praised Senegal ahead of their final Group A fixture of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) at the Stade Olympique in Rabat on Saturday.

Both sides will head into the fixture with an outright chance to qualify for the knockout stages, while Zambia can also qualify if they manage to beat DR Congo in the other group match at Stade El Bachir, Mohammédia.

Despite playing in front of their fans, Vilda has admitted that the Atlas Lionesses will be cautious because they will face a Senegalese side, who are a cohesive team, capable of surprising anyone in the tournament.

“We’ve been preparing for this competition for over two months. Physically, thanks to the medical staff, we’re ready,” the Spanish coach told CAFOnline before acknowledging that Senegal had improved: “They’re a cohesive team, capable of surprising players. We’ll have to be ready.”

He continued: “We won’t change our identity. We have our model, and the players are motivated to deliver a successful performance.”

Morocco midfielder Sakina Ouzraoui echoed coach Vilda’s sentiments by saying: “It won’t be the same match. We saw what Senegal achieved against DR Congo and Zambia. They’re a well-organised team, with quality and desire.”

Morocco currently tops Group A with four points, ahead of Zambia (four points) and Senegal (three points).