Copper Queens captain Barbra Banda remains confident that her team can recover from Thursday night’s 3-0 loss to four-time Olympic gold medalists the United States of America (USWNT).
Banda, the first player in Olympic history to score back-to-back hat-tricks, stated that they learned from their mistakes in the first match and will look to redeem themselves against Australia, who also lost 3-0 to Germany.
“It’s not the result we wanted, but it is a game and you know, USA is a very good team and we conceded goals in very few minutes, which was bad for us,” Banda said after the match. “I think we just have to go back to our drawing board and look at the mistakes that we made. Otherwise, we are looking forward to another game that we have; we still have a chance, so we are still focused.”
The Orlando Pride striker, who has 12 goals in 12 National Women’s Soccer League games, admitted that the team is now under pressure to perform against the Matildas.
“We have pressure because we’ve lost and I think the other team is also working on winning, so it is a battle. The team that wants it most is the team that is going to carry the day,” she said.
The 24-year-old striker also sent a message to the fans, saying, “What I can say to the fans is to believe in us and keep supporting us, and where it is needed to do good, we will definitely do good.”
Zambia and Australia will look to bounce back in their second Group B match on Sunday at the Stade de Nice.
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