AFRICA

I want to set more records - Zambia captain Barbra Banda


Captain of the Zambia Women’s national team, the Copper Queens, has set her sights on more records in the ongoing female soccer tournament in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Barbra Banda has already become the first woman in Olympic history to score two hat-tricks - she achieved that feat in the first two preliminary games for Zambia.

Despite Zambia losing their first game 10-3 against the Netherlands, the 21-year-old striker became the first Zambian and African to score a hat-trick at the Games as she scored her side’s three goals in their humiliating defeat.

The Shanghai Shengli striker scored another hat-trick in their 4-4 draw with China in their second game in Tokyo.

Banda’s six goals in her first two games at the Olympics means she has broken multiple Olympic records but the captain of the Copper Queens says the world has not seen the last of her. She told www.cafonline.com that she is willing to set and break more records in the 2020 Olympic Games and beyond.

“I am very proud of myself and the team because without them I can’t score so I just want to say thank you to my teammates for the help that they are giving me.

“It’s good to make history when you have the opportunity so I just have to keep on working hard and break more history”, she added.

The new African soccer queen said the sky is the limit for her and with discipline and hard work, she will achieve higher heights in her soccer career.

“I still have a long way to go, I just have to be disciplined because I am aiming to become the best footballer in the world”, she noted.

Barbra is the first woman to score back-to-back hat-tricks at a single Olympic tournament and she has become the all-time African top scorer at the Olympics in the women's event.

Former Nigeria player, Mercy Akide-Udoh used to hold the enviable record of the all-time African top scorer with four goals (two goals each in 2000 and 2004).

Barbra Banda’s six goals in her two opening matches also mean that she has equaled the most goals scored in a single event by a female - a record set by Canada striker Christine Sinclair in 2012.

Not only that, but records also indicate that the former Green Buffaloes star has also equaled the most goals record scored by an African, including the men, leveling up with compatriot Kalusha Bwalya and Ghana's Kwame Ayew who both scored six in 1988 and 1992 respectively.

The strongest test awaits Barbra when the Zambia women clash with Brazil women on Tuesday.
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