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Barbra Banda was her absolute best as Zambia's Copper Queens made FIFAWWC history against Costa Rica.
Zambia’s Copper Queens have exited the FIFA Women’s World Cup, FIFAWWC, with their pride intact after a brilliant outing against Costa Rica.
Inspired by superstar, Barbra Banda, the Copper Queens produced an outstanding performance to beat Costa Rica 3-1 in their final game in Group C on Monday morning.
Two goals were scored in an excellent first half display, with the second of the game a milestone in FIFAWWC history while the third arrived deep in added time.
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Zambia vs Costa Rica: Brief
These two went into the encounter at the FMG Stadium Waikato in New Zealand looking for their first win after disappointing starts to the FIFAWWC.
Both nations lost their opening two matches to Spain and Japan respectively, with Zambia shipping 10 goals in both games and hoped to leave the competition on a high.
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But it was the Copper Queens who seized the initiative early on when Lushomo Mweemba netted a beautiful opener with just three minutes played.
And just after the half-hour mark, the Africans made the game more comfortable heading into the break when Banda doubled their advantage from the spot.
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A dangerous ball was played into her path in the Costa Rican box but she was fouled and the referee wasted no time to point to the spot for her penalty.
Banda dusted herself up to calmly slot in the resultant kick to give Zambia a 2-0 lead.
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Costa Rica pulled one back just a few minutes after the break to make it an interesting final 30 minutes.
Zambia, however, survived a moment of pressure from the Costa Ricans to wrap up a historic first win at the FIFAWWC after Racheal Kundananji’s winner late on.
Banda fires 1000th FIFAWWC goal
Zambia’s biggest star Banda proved to be a handful for the Costa Ricans during their clash.
After two quiet outings against Japan and Spain, the talented forward finally came to life as she rediscovered her magic against Costa Rica.
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She was at the very centre of everything good for Zambia and she was rewarded with her first goal in the competition.
Banda’s goal was historic as it was the 1000th goal in FIFAWWC history. She went on to pick up an assist for the third goal to seal the terrific win.
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