Tokyo: Zambia women’s football team may not have a perfect start to their Tokyo Olympics campaign losing 3-10 to the Netherlands on Wednesday, but already made the headlines courtesy of Barbra Banda – also a professional boxer. Vivianne Miedema hit the net four times for the Dutch.
Making their Summer Olympics debut at the Miyagi Stadium, the 21-year-old Banda also became the first African woman to score a hat-trick in an Olympic football match. Banda gave Zambia the lead in the 19th minute before completing her hat-trick in the 82nd and 83rd minute.
Banda’s tryst with boxing came much later at the age of 16, inspired by compatriot Catherine Phiri, who won the world title in 2016-17. “Actually I’m good, I’m very good,” said Banda to AFP, who is still unbeaten in all the five professional fights in her career.
Meet Barbra Banda, captain of the Zambia women's national football team 👋
Barbra will lead the team into their first-ever Olympic Games at #Tokyo2020 🇿🇲⚽#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/pWIl7SREX1
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 21, 2021
But Banda had to choose one and she chose football. “My mind was too much into football so that’s why I couldn’t concentrate much into boxing,” she said. “I said I have to go with the way I’m more comfortable with.”
Also, the first Zambian woman to play professional football in Europe, Banda started football at a very small age when she was just six or seven. Like all other women footballers, Banda too started with the boys as the academy didn’t had a female team back then.
“Actually by the time I started, I used to play with boys because the academy that I was playing for didn’t have the lady’s team,” Banda said. “Whether anyone made a comment about me I was just determined because I really wanted to play football,” she said.
“I thought it was my career so I wouldn’t mind what people say, I’ll keep on playing with the boys,” added Banda, who has scored at least 28 goals in 32 games Zambia – also known as ‘Copper Queens’.
