Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh of Reuters
Zambia’s showing in the women’s football tournament at the Tokyo Summer Olympics continues to captivate observers and now Shepolopolo can add obtaining their first ever Olympic point to their list of accomplishments following an entertaining 4-4 draw against China on Saturday. Barbra Banda has been a true standout and after China’s Wang Shuang dispatched three of her four goals on the day, the Copper Queens 21-year-old star forward led a remarkable comeback by notching her second hat trick in as many matches, bringing Zambia to the verge of a surprise victory before Shuang equalized late on.
The odds are long for Zambia to obtain a top-2 spot in Group F, but a win in their last match against Brazil on Tuesday can put Shepolopolo into the knockout round as one of the best ranked third place teams. A link to a match report on the draw with China is below and video of some of the goals from the match including Banda’s hat trick is below.
