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Olympic football: Banda sets four records in Zambia rout vs Netherlands
The striker scored on her debut, and became the first African woman to net a treble in the global sporting fiesta in Tokyo
Four records tumbled for Zambia captain Barbra Banda when the Copper Queens were pummeled 10-3 by the Netherlands in Wednesday’s Olympic Games fixture.
Taking part in the competition for the first time, the Shanghai Shengli striker – who was her team’s shining light - etched her name in the competition’s history books.
With the Lionesses leading 3-0 in the first 15 minutes at the Miyagi Stadium in Rifu, the 21-year-old reduced the deficit for her team in the 19th minute.
Profiting from an Esther Siamfuko pass, Banda fired the ball past goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal.
In the process, she wrote her name in the history books, becoming the first Zambian to score in the women's football tournament.
Her maiden appearance went sour as Vivianne Miedema’s hat-trick gave the Europeans a 6-1 advantage at half-time with Lieke Martens also finding the net on two occasions.
In the second half, the Lionesses continued their harvest of goals as they raced into a 10-1 lead with ten minutes left on the clock.
Nonetheless, the China-based star got something to cheer about after scoring her side’s second and third goals in the 82nd and 83rd minutes to achieve three more landmarks.
Following her treble, Banda became the first African and Zambian to find the net on three occasions in her first game in the quadrennial sporting showpiece.
In addition, she became the leading African goalscorer at the tournament after overtaking Nigeria’s duo of Mercy Akide and Perpetua Nkwocha, who are tied on two goals each.
She was in action from start to finish as the Southern African national suffered their heaviest defeat ever.
That eclipsed the mark set when they were dismantled 6-0 by Nigeria during an Africa Women’s Cup of Nations encounter played at Windhoek’s Sam Nujoma Stadium on October 14, 2014.
They will hope to bounce back when they take on China PR on July 24 in a Group F fixture. The Asians suffered a 5-0 hammering by Brazil in their first game.
Zambia was picked as Africa’s representative at the women's Olympic football event after defeating Cameroon 2-1 in the final of Caf's qualifying tournament.
