Barbra Banda on Zambia's progress at Wafcon: ‘We have a really good feeling'
Now she is back though. She has scored three goals in Zambia's Wafcon campaign, with the first coming 58 seconds into the tournament's opening game, against hosts Morocco. Banda, who doubles as the Copper Queens captain and attacking pivot, alongside the equally lethal Racheal Kundananji, can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief.
'It really means a lot for me to be here and to be a part of the team. And being with the team. We have a good feeling,' the reigning African women's player of the year tells the Guardian at the Larbi Zaouli stadium, where Zambia will face Nigeria's Super Falcons, the nine-time African champions, for a place in the semi-finals on Friday.
'It's good to have a [personal] title, being the African Player of the Year,' the 25-year-old says. 'But my main motivation is to keep working so hard to get more titles for myself and especially for my teammates. Without them, I will not have these titles. Everything comes from their support and encouragement. Putting on this [national team] shirt, putting on this [Zambia] badge, means everything to me … I need to show people why I am here.'
Banda's sterling form at the Wafcon, however, has not enabled the striker to completely drop her guard and express true feelings about how painful it has been to be accused of being a man in a woman's game.
After her selection as the 2024 BBC Women's Footballer of the Year, JK Rowling, the renowned author, described the award to Banda, in a tweet, as spitting 'directly in women's faces'. There were reports that she had failed gender eligibility tests, prompting her withdrawal from the 2018 and 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. But the Confederation of African Football have said she did not take a sex eligibility test and was withdrawn by the Football Association of Zambia.
Banda says: 'I don't think I would say much [about these remarks] because, at the end of the day, it's football that we are playing,' she says. 'Whatever comes, we are hoping for the best, for each African women's team, to progress and to get that respect that you are talking about. It starts step by step.'
The Nigeria defender Ashleigh Plumptre, who has the job of keeping Banda quiet during the quarter-final in Casablanca, praised the Copper Queens captain for weathering the storm of controversy while still displaying great form for NWSL side Orlando Pride.
'Even though I do not know her personally, I have a lot of respect for her, because I can imagine that anybody going through that would find it very tough,' Plumptre says. 'But she has been able to silence everybody as she continues to come out and perform, even with a smile on her face. You can see that her team and country gets behind her. The women's football world got behind her as well.'
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Nothing matters more to Banda, at the moment, than the dream of captaining Zambia to a first Wafcon title, which would be the country's second African title overall, after the Chipolopolo, Zambia's male national team, won the 2012 Afcon. 'It would mean a lot to our country,' she says. 'Everybody back home is waiting for this title and they are cheering us on. Their support keeps on pushing us.'
During the pre-match press conference the Zambia coach, Nora Hauptle, was asked to describe the importance of Banda to her team. Hauptle turned towards Banda and said: 'It is strange for me to talk to you about Barbra, who is sitting next to me … For me, Barbra is an absolutely top athlete but also a top human [being]. I was also curious when I came to Zambia, because I didn't know who she was and I needed to get a feeling for her. She is one of the top athletes in the world, in terms of her behaviour, on and off the pitch … I have never seen Barbra display an arrogant attitude. She is very professional and she never complains.'
Looking directly at Banda, Hauptle added: 'I think you're on course to win, one day, the Ballon d'Or.'
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