Saturday 21 December 2024

Saturday 21 December 2024

Morocco’s Successful AFCON 2025 Bid Attributed to HM the King’s Leadership and Continuous Backing, Says Angolan Newspaper

Luanda – The victory of the Moroccan bid to host the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON 2025) “comes as no surprise,” as it is the natural result of His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s leadership and unwavering support for sports, along with the quality of the available infrastructure in Morocco, said Friday the Angolan major newspaper “Jornal De Angola” .

“The unceasing support of His Majesty the King and the great commitment of the leaders of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), who are always focused on success, led us to believe that the members of CAF would have no doubts, when it came to voting, in unanimously choosing the Kingdom of Morocco to organize this important continental soccer competition,” wrote the newspaper.

Under the headline “CAF chooses Morocco to organize AFCON 2025”, Jornal De Angola underscored that the quality of Morocco’s sports and hotel infrastructure convinced the leaders of the Confederation’s Executive Committee to unanimously award Morocco the organization of the 35th edition of the African Nations Championship.

The newspaper emphasizes that Morocco’s sports infrastructure was highly appreciated, even by FIFA directors, due to its quality, not to mention the excellent roads throughout the Kingdom.

Similarly, the newspaper echoed the words of FIFA President Giovanni Infantino, who hailed Morocco’s potential in the field of sports and its strong candidacy to host AFCON 2025.

“Morocco is a great country not only in football but also in the organization of major events,” he said.

In this context, the Angolan media outlet recalled that seven months ago, Morocco opened its doors to the continent as part of the Media Tour, a journalistic and tourism project that brought 162 journalists from several African countries, including Angola, to the Kingdom. The aim was to showcase the country’s ability to organize major international competitions.

The media representatives witnessed stadiums in good condition, quality hotels, modern transportation, tourism opportunities, medical facilities, and well-maintained roads that will enable supporters, tourists, and participating teams to move around seamlessly.

Noting that Morocco has several world-class stadiums to host the games of the 35th edition of the continental competition, the media reported that AFCON 2025 will be played in six Moroccan cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez, Tangier, and Agadir.

“All six stadiums have been built to modern standards and meet FIFA requirements, making them capable of hosting any type of official competition, including AFCON, World Cup, and Olympic Games,” the newspaper praised.

MAP

Related news

The Moroccan national football team dominated their Gabonese counterparts by 5 goals to 1 on Friday at the Franceville stadium, for the fifth Group B fixture of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN-2025) qualifiers.

Gabon’s striker, Dénis Bouanga, fired first in the 5th minute before the Atlas Lions retaliated with a downpour of goals scored by Jamal Harkass (17′), Brahim Diaz (21′, 23′), Youssef En-Nesyri (81′) and Ismael Saibari (90′).

In the same group, Lesotho beat the Central African Republic on Thursday (1-0).

Following today’s fixtures, Morocco consolidated their position at the top of Group B with 15 points from five wins, ahead of Gabon, who qualified for the CAN (7 points). Lesotho are third with 4 points, while the Central African Republic are dead last with 3 points.

Morocco’s national soccer team thrashed Lesotho 7-0 (5-0 in 1st half-time ) on Monday evening at the Stade d’Honneur in Oujda, as part of the 6th and final matchday of Group B qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco-2025).

The Atlas Lions won thanks to a hat-trick from Brahim Diaz (5′, 15′, 42′), two goals by Sofiane Rahimi (37′, 45’+2 penalty) as well as Youssef En-Nesyri (68′) and Ismael Saibari (70′).

With this win, the national team finishes top of its group with 18 points from 6 wins, ahead of Gabon (10 pts), who already qualified for the next AFCON and defeated this evening the Central African Republic (1-0).

Morocco’s football head coach, Walid Regragui, selected 26 players for the two upcoming matches against Gabon in Franceville on November 15 and Lesotho at Oujda’s Honor Stadium on November 18, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said on Thursday.

These two matches are part of the 5th and 6th Group B qualifiers fixtures for the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN), to be held in Morocco from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026.

According to the same source, the national head coach will hold a press conference next Tuesday at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé at 6:00 pm (local time), followed by a training session open to the press for the first 15 minutes.

Here follows the list of players called up:

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal/Saudi Arabia), Mounir El Kajoui (Renaissance Berkane), Salaheddine Chihab (Maghreb Fès), Ayoub El Khayati (AS FAR)

Defenders: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain/France), Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United/England), Abdelkabir Abkar (Alaves/Spain), Jamal Harkas (Wydad Casablanca), Nayef Aguerd (Real Sociedad/Spain), Adam Massina (Torino/Italy), Adam Aznou (Bayern Munich/Germany), Yahya Attiyat-Allah (Al Ahly/Egypt)

Midfielders: Sofiane Amrabat (Fenerbahçe/Turkey), Amir Richardson (Fiorentina/Italy), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Monaco/France), Oussama Targhaline (Le Havre/France), Azzeddine Ounahi (Panathinaïkos/Greece), Bilal El Khanous (Leicester City/England), Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven/Netherlands).

Forwards: Ilyas Akhomach (Villarreal/Spain), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid/Spain), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Aïn/United Arab Emirates), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiakos/Greece), Youssef En-Nesyri (Fenerbahçe/Turkey), Osame Sahraoui (Lille/France), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Betis/Spain).

The Moroccan national football team comfortably beat their Central African counterpart in a 5 to null thrashing on Saturday at Oujda’s Honor Stadium, in the 3rd day of Group B of the African qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (18’), Azzeddine Ounahi (38’, 45 ‘+2), Achraf Hakimi (45’) and Soufiane Rahimi (pen. 71’) signed their names on the scoresheet in this demolition job.

The Atlas Lions, who have already qualified for the 2025 AFCON finals as hosts, consolidated their position at the top of Group B with 9 points after wins over Gabon (4-1) and Lesotho (1-0) on the first two matchdays.

Morocco’s national football coach, Walid Regragui, has announced the 25-man squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against the Central African Republic. The matches are set to take place on October 12 and 15 at the Stade d’Honneur in Oujda, as part of the qualification campaign for the 2025 AFCON, which Morocco will host.

Although Morocco has already secured its place in the 2025 AFCON as the host nation, the team is competing in Group B alongside Gabon, the Central African Republic, and Lesotho. The Atlas Lions have made an impressive start to the qualifiers, defeating Gabon 4-1 and Lesotho 1-0 in their first two matches.

Goalkeepers:

– Munir El Kajoui (RS Berkane)

– Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal FC, Saudi Arabia)

– Salaheddine Chihab (Maghreb of Fez)

Defenders:

– Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, France)

– Mohamed Chibi (Pyramids, Egypt)

– Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United, England)

– Abdelkabir Abqar (Deportivo Alavés, Spain)

– Nayef Aguerd (Real Sociedad, Spain)

– Adam Aznou (Bayern Munich, Germany)

– Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal (Stade Rennais, France)

– Jamal Harkass (Wydad Casablanca)

Midfielders:

– Sofyan Amrabat (Fenerbahçe, Türkiye)

– Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands)

– Bilal El Khannous (Leicester City, England)

– Oussama Targhaline (Le Havre, France)

– Azzeddine Ounahi (Panathinaikos, Greece)

– Reda Belahyane (Hellas Verona, Italy)


Forwards:

– Ilias Akhomach (Villareal CF, Spain)

– Amine Adli (Leverkusen, Germany)

– Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain, UAE)

– Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos, Greece)

– Youssef En-Nesyri (Fenerbahçe, Türkiye)

– Iliesse Ben Seghir (AS Monaco, France)

– Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis, Spain)

– Osame Sahraoui (Lille, France)

Morocco’s national team coach Walid Regragui will hold a press conference in Agadir on Thursday ahead of the game against Gabon on the first matchday of Morocco-2025 Africa Cup of Nations group B qualifiers. 

After the press conference, to be held at the Grand Stade d’Agadir’s conference room at 6:30 p.m., a training session will be open for photography for the initial 15 minutes starting 7:00 p.m., the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said.

In turn, Gabonese team’s coach Thierry Dieudonné Mouyouma will hold his pre-match press conference at 5.45 p.m. on Thursday, the Federation wrote on its website.

Morocco’s game against Gabon is scheduled for next Friday at the Grand Stade d’Agadir at 8:00 p.m.