21 year old Barbra Banda became the first woman in Games history to score two-hat tricks after six goals in two games against the Netherlands and China in Group F. She is now level for the most goals scored by an African player at the Olympics in both men and womens events. Compatriot Kalusha Bwalya and Ghana's Kwame Ayew both scored six in 1988 and 1992 respectively.
Even though the game against China ended in a thrilling 4 all draw, Banda managed to stage an incredible performance. Banda, who plays her club football in China for Shanghai Shengli, is unsurprisingly now the leading scorer in the women’s event. The former boxer who is now Zambia's skipper equalled Canada’s Christine Sinclair’s record six-goal tally in 2012.
The 21-year-old is a natural striker who started her career with Spanish outfit Logroño in 2018, where she scored 16 goals in 28 appearances. Banda has represented her nation just five times as a senior player but has scored nine goals in that time.
Zambia upset the odds to become Africa’s sole representative in Tokyo, defeating 2019 Women’s World Cup qualifiers Cameroon in a play-off to take the sought-after slot, above even the might of Africa’s record nine-time champions Nigeria. With Brazil and the Netherlands both winning their opening matches, Zambia are now fighting for the third place spot for a chance to progress into the quarter-finals.
The last match of the group stages for the Copper Queens will be against Brazil on Tuesday, July 27th. Zambia will be looking towards Banda once again to put in a world class performance in hopes to upset the two-time Olympic silver medalists.