On Friday last week, the National Women’s Soccer League side Orlando Pride, unveiled Zambia Women’s National Team skipper Barbra Banda, as their new signing following her move from China’s Shanghai Shengli for a $740,000 transfer fee.
It was the second-largest transfer in women’s football history, following her compatriot Racheal Kundananji’s $787,000 move to Bay FC from Madrid CFF last month.
In reaction to her move, Banda told The Athletic in an interview that “the NWSL is one of the most competitive and strongest leagues in the world, so it’s very humbling to get a chance to play in it.”
She added: “I can’t wait to meet my new team-mates and start working with them. I hope to help the team do great things and win a lot of trophies together.”
“It has not been easy for me”- Banda
Banda, who turns 24 on the 20th of this month, left Zambia’s Green Buffaloes in 2016 to join Logroño in Spain before moving to Shanghai, where she scored 41 goals in 52 games in her last season.
The former boxer stated that her career had not been easy, but she remained determined to succeed.
“Honestly, it has not been easy for me to reach this stage, but I think the effort and the determination has really worked for me, and I always pray to God to achieve more,” Banda told The Athletic.
On Kundananji being the most expensive female footballer in the world, Banda said, “We are all proud of her, as her teammates on the national team, and we’re pushing everyone to push harder for those kinds of deals and records. At the end of the day, we are putting Africa on the map.”
She also believes that the two major transfers will turn Zambians into avid fans of the American Women’s League.
“Most Zambians only paid attention (to international women’s football) when Kundananji was in Spain, or when I was in China,” she said. “It’s their time now to switch their minds to the USA and enjoy the game that side.”
