Zambia Women’s National Team captain Barbra Banda is happy to be back with the team after missing the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Banda says she is excited to be back with her teammates ahead of the team’s opening match of the 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship.
The China-based forward believes this is the Copper Queens’ time to win their first COSAFA Cup title.
“I am very happy to be with the team and am very excited. The morale is very high and everyone is ready for the tournament,” she said.
“The main target for the team is to win the COSAFA Cup because from the last tournament the team is doing well. The players are all in shape so I think this is our time to win the COSAFA Cup.”
“My morale is always high because I always want to be on top of the game. I just have to push hard because I have been out for some time. This is a good comeback for me,” she added.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics history maker says this tournament will help the Copper Queens kick start their preparations for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“The preparations have been good because from the Africa Cup some players went to play the COSAFA for Clubs with Green Buffaloes. Looking at the fitness of the team we are all ready for this tournament,” she said.
“It’s a good step for the preparations for the World Cup, we will not take it lightly because preparations start now. This tournament has to push to concentrate more on the bigger tournament (2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup) that is coming ahead.”
The Queens first match in Group B will be against Namibia on September 1st at 15h30 at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium, with their second match coming up against Lesotho three days later while their last group match against Eswatini is set for 6 September.
The tournament has three groups and only the top team in each group and the best-placed runner-up among the three pools will qualify to the semifinals.
