Copper Queens forward Rachel Kundananji has already set very high goals for herself following her switch to the United States of America.
The Zambian superstar was recently signed from Madrid CFF in the biggest transfer in women’s soccer history, for a staggering fee worth €735,000 ($788,000/£625,000).
The 23-year-old striker will travel to the United States to now be one of the highest-paid players in the league, with a deal that will pay over $2m across her contract through 2026.
The Zambian international has already set her sights on the top goalscorers chart.
Last season the Chililabombwe native scored 25 goals in 29 appearances for Madrid CFF.
The Zambian was the second top scorer of the championship, only two goals behind Pichichi winner Alba Maria Redondo Ferrer, from Levante.
“I’m just looking forward to meeting my new family, my new teammates. I want to reach my target which was to be top goalscorer in Spain but I left the league in the middle so I want to extend that to the American League. I need to focus and work hard every time,” Kundananji said.
“Being teammates will be great. I want to learn a lot from her since she has been around for a long time. I need to learn how I should carry myself so that I also stay long in the game. She has broken so many records, and she has won six CAF Women’s player of the year, I want to do something similar.”
The former BIIK Kazygurt player is currently in camp with the Copper Queens preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics third round qualifiers against Ghana.
Kundananji expects a tough match against the Black Queens but she is confident the team will push for a result away in Accra.
“Playing away is more difficult than playing at home. We have an advantage, we need to get a positive result, even if it’s not a win but a point then come and finish the game home,” she said.
“We don’t want that appearance to be the last one. We want to keep going back there, we want to qualify this time and go do what we failed to do last time.”
“The Ghana game will be different because they have a lot of good players based abroad. It won’t be easy but we are ready to face them and do our level best.
To the fans, keep supporting us. Without you we are nothing. You give us the morale to work hard,” she added.
Ghana will host Zambia, in the 1st leg at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday, February 23rd.
The Copper Queens will then host Ghana on Wednesday, 28th February in the second leg at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium with the kick off set at 18h00.
The winner between Zambia and Ghana will face either Tunisia or Morocco in the last round of qualification.
