As the USWNT prepare to take on Zambia in their Olympics group stage opener on Thursday, they’ll have to include a game plan for how to stop forward Barbra Banda. The Zambian striker caught the attention of global audiences during the Tokyo Olympics where she became the first player to record back-to-back hat tricks in a single Olympic Games. She has scored 53 goals for Zambia through 60 matches and is currently Africa’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Just a few years later, she’s still making headlines as she made the leap from the Chinese Women’s Super League to the United States with NWSL’s Orlando Pride for a then-record transfer fee of $740,000. Her four-year deal is reportedly worth $2.1 million with bonuses.
The deal looks like a steal now as Banda continues to grow her scoring profile. She arrived in Orlando in April and has since scored 12 goals in 12 appearances with the club. Backlines have struggled to contain her, and her skillful ability to lull defenders into a false sense of secure positioning is unmatched. In…
