Barbara Banda to lead Zambia against Nambia after WAFCON saga

Zambia national women’s team forward Barbara Banda is set to lead the Copper Queens on Thursday when they take on Namibia after being allowed to play at the COSAFA tournament, writes Tlalane Phahla.

The regional football governing body COSAFA will allow Banda to participate in the 2022 Hollywoodbets Women’s COSAFA Championships in Port Elizabeth. 

COSAFA have already been flooded with questions about Barbara Banda and her eligibility. However, they say they do not have regulations governing player eligibility to participate in the championship, apart from being a member of the women’s national team of the participating country and being the holder of a passport of the said country.

The Copper Queens are in Group B with Namibia, Eswatini and Lesotho and will look to Banda for inspiration.

She missed the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WACON) in Morocco on medical grounds and had to watch from the sidelines as Zambia secured a World Cup spot.

According to SABC Sport, Zambia women’s national football team coach Bruce Mwape explained that it was necessary “for her [Barbara Banda] because at the moment she’s been on lock-down”.

Banda was unable to go back to China because of Covid-19 issues. The tenacious forward was the star for Zambia in 2021 in the COSAFA and scored a brace against Lesotho in an 8-0 victory.

She shot to stardom in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when she became the first woman to net back-to-back hat-tricks against China and Netherlands. 

It was also the first time one player had scored two hat-tricks at the same Olympics Games tournament.

In 2017, she featured in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and currently plays as a forward for the Chinese club Shanghai Shengli.

Mwape will use the tournament to broaden his selection base for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.