Zambia’s Rachel Kundananji was treated to a heroine welcome at BAY FC on arrival to join the club for the first time since signing with them last month.
In a video posted on the clubs Facebook page, the Chililabombwe native was welcomed by a cluster of fans and club officials.
Kundananji is expected to start training soon with her new teammates ahead of the kick off of the NWSL season this coming weekend.
The Copper Queens superstar joined the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) extension side from Madrid CFF.
The deal is worth around €735,000 making Kundananji the most expensive female football player in history of Women’s Football.
The Zambian international penned a four year contract to keep her at the club until 2027 with an option to extend to 2028.
In Aug. 2022, Kundananji signed with Madrid CFF, scoring 25 goals during her first season with the club in the 2022-23 campaign.
Her 25 goals ranked second-most in the league as she helped Madrid to a fifth-place finish. During the 2023-24 season, Kundananji appeared in 14 matches, recording eight goals and four assists.
Prior to her arrival at Madrid, she was with SD Eibar in Spain, where she tallied eight goals in 21 appearances.”
Before making the move to Europe, Kundananji signed her first professional contract abroad with BIIK Kazygurt in Kazakhstan at the age of 18.
She helped the team win back-to-back league championships in 2019 and 2020.
In 2018, Kundananji played for Ideni Roses of Zambia’s Copperbelt Women’s League, scoring 21 goals in 18 games as the team won the league title.
At the international level, Kundananji represented Zambia at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. It marked her first appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
She scored her first career World Cup goal in a 3-1 win over Costa Rica in the group stage of the 2023 tournament. Notably, she tallied a brace in her international debut at the 2018 Women’s African Cup of Nations.
In December last year, Kundananji won the 2023 GOAL50 Women’s Award ahead of FC Barcelona star Asisat Oshoala and Linda Caicedo of Real Madrid Feminina.
Kundananji was also named as the revelation (breakthrough player) of the season at the MARCA Women’s Sports Awards and also won the Estrella Damm Best Goal award at the 3rd edition of Mundo Deportivo’s European Women’s Football awards.
Go girl and lift the Zambian 🇿🇲and Africa at large. May you succeed in life. God bless you.