MOROCCO, OCT 21 (DNA): The remarkable victory of Morocco’s U20 national football team is not a matter of chance but the outcome of the visionary and structured sports policy championed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI over several years.
Indeed, this historic feat is the consecration of a far-sighted Royal Vision aimed at giving a strong boost to sport in general and to football in particular, as a lever for human, social and territorial development.
The Sovereign has consistently shown great concern for the sports sector, in all disciplines. In his message to the National Sports Conference in 2008, His Majesty the King stated: “We have full confidence in the great potential of Moroccan sport. We will therefore spare no effort to support all good initiatives dedicated to the supreme objective we have set for ourselves, namely to make Moroccan sport an exemplary model and a factor of social cohesion and strengthening our regional and international influence.”
A melting pot of excellence, the Mohammed VI Football Academy is one of the embodiments of this Royal Vision for a sport that provides training and professional coaching. Several players from this team that won the World Cup in Chile, including Yassir Zabiri, Fouad Zahouani, Houssam Essadak, and Yassine Khalifi, are graduates of this prestigious Academy, a symbol of the rise of the Moroccan training model.
Inaugurated in 2009 and strengthened after 2013, the Academy, which came into being thanks to the far-sighted leadership of His Majesty the King, has established itself today as a benchmark in terms of training, enabling young talent to be unearthed, their skills to be forged and their prospects to be propelled towards broad horizons. In addition to being a model for training and a breeding ground for budding young players, the Academy is a Royal project that aims to promote national football and develop its level.
Covering an area of approximately 18 hectares, this prestigious, world-renowned sports facility, which has mobilized investments of around 140 million dirhams, illustrates the High Benevolence with which His Majesty the King continues to surround national sport. Under the Royal leadership, Morocco has also increased the number of local sports grounds, regional training centers and modern facilities, allowing its youth to access sports in all regions.
“Our ultimate goal is to revitalize the practice of sport in our towns, villages and neighborhoods, especially working-class ones, which constitute an inexhaustible reservoir of athletes for our country,” the Sovereign emphasized in his message to the National Sports Conference.
This democratization of sport across the country has shaped a new generation that is talented, disciplined and confident in its potential.
From now on, the Mohammed VI Football Academy has established itself, in everyone’s opinion, as a center of excellence contributing to the success of national teams on the continental and international stages, by promoting the emergence of a new generation of talented players, some of whom today form the backbone of the national team “A”.
Capitalizing on the unprecedented feat achieved during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by the “A” team, the graduates of the Mohammed VI Academy distinguished themselves once again during the U20 World Cup in Chile alongside their teammates.
The performances achieved by the national football teams, all categories combined, on the continental and world stages, the latest of which is this coronation of the Lionceaux, clearly reflect the inclusive dimension of the Royal Vision in the sporting field.
By winning the U20 World Cup, Morocco confirms its place, known and recognized, in the concert of great footballing nations, fruit of the enlightened vision of His Majesty the King.
: The victory of the Chilean national under-20 football team is no accident, but the culmination of the visionary and){kind=link}