Whether the atmosphere in which the players played in will remain so vibrant remains to be seen, after the 53,000-seater Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah was packed out and lit up by flares throughout an absorbing final.
“We want to give thanks to the supporters, who came out in numbers,” AC Milan midfielder Jane added.
“When we played toward the game, we thought we were going to be lasered and there would be firecrackers, smoke and all those things. Even if they did that a little bit, it didn’t affect us so much, so we also want to give credit to the supporters of women’s football.
“At the end of the day, they came in numbers to support and it goes to show that Africa is on the rise. You know, we showed the world that Africa can do it.
“It was a beautiful atmosphere out there. They showed us love also, and we want to say thank you for that.”
Veteran Van Wyk, who played just the one game given her advancing years, also congratulated Morocco, saying the tournament they hosted was ‘probably the best Wafcon I’ve ever been to’.
Like Jane and many others in the team, the defender burst into tears at the final whistle in the 99th minutes – “probably the longest nine minutes of my career”- at the realisation of a “dream come true”.
South Africa fly home on Monday, with a huge celebration expected on Tuesday as the country celebrates its first senior international title since the men’s team were crowned African champions in 1996.
All the players, who spoke to South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa by Zoom on the day before the final, are now theoretically $24,000 richer, after being promised that amount should they lift the trophy.