Zambia women’s national team captain Barbara Banda is closing in on breaking South Africa’s Noko Matlou’s record of the most goals scored in a single COSAFA tournament.
BANDA has netted 8 goals so far at the ongoing 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship having scored in all three group stage matches for Zambia.
She scored a brace against Namibia, a glut against Lesotho and one goal today against Eswatini to increase her tally to 8 goals at the competition.
BANDA who also holds the record of the first African female player to score a hat trick at the Olympic games is now five goals away from breaking Noko Matlou’s record as the only player to score more goals in a single COSAFA Women’s Championship tournament.
Matlou set that record in 2008 when she scored 12 goals at the second edition of the COSAFA Women’s Championship and Banda will look to break it as her scoring streak continues with Zambia now in the semifinals of the competition.
The only other Zambian to score more goals in a COSAFA women’s tournament is Racheal Nachula who scored 10 goals in 2019 to carry home the golden boot.
Meanwhile, Banda has also become the third woman to score 8 goals in a single tournament at the COSAFA Championship equalling the tally of Zimbabwe’s Rufaro Machingura and South Africa’s Sibulele Holweni who achieved the feat in 2011 and 2020 respectively.
This came when Banda scored the second goal of the match for the Copper queens who emerged victorious over Eswatini after a 2-0 win this afternoon to finish Group B with 9 points and seal a slot in the semifinals.
