July 23, (THEWILL) – In Saturday’s final of the TotalEnergies 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, Hildah Magaia helped South Africa hold off a late Morocco fight back to win 2-1 and lift their first ever continental title at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
The South African ladies will finally return home and be hailed as the best women’s team in Africa after suffering five heartbreaks as a result of previously losing five different AWCON finals.
Both teams entered the Prince Moulay Stadium vying for each side’s first AWCON trophy in history, with South Africa as the clear favourite. But, hosts Morocco took control of the contest from the onset. Both sides missed opportunities to open the scoring and the first half ended goalless.
Although the Atlas Lionesses pressed further when hostilities resumed, it was Magaia’s quickfire goals in the span of eight minutes, beginning just after the hour mark, in the second half that drastically changed the course of the game in South Africa’s favour.
Morocco, backed by the enthusiasm of their home fans halved the deficit when Rosella Ayane pulled one back to make it 2-1. It made for a tense final 10 minutes but Banyana held on for the victory to end their lengthy wait for the biggest football title on the continent.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
