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Lameck Banda’s 83rd-minute goal helped him write his name in Serie A and Zambian football folklore.
From the streets of Zambia to becoming the biggest ambassador of Zambian football, Lameck Banda’s rise to fame has been astronomical.
Earlier in the season, the 21-year-old winger became the first Zambian to play in the prestigious Italian Serie A wehn he came on for Lecce against Inter in the first game of the league season, replacing Federico Di Francesco.
The energetic winger appeared 13 more times, and registered an assist before finally claiming another historic moment against Sampdoria.
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With the match against Sampdoria drawing to a close, Banda latched on to a brilliant flick on from Lorenzo Colombo to chip the ball over the on-rushing goalkeeper to extend Lecce’s lead to 2-0 and become the first man from his country to score in the Serie A.
He was overcome with emotions after scoring, which is not very surprising. The significance of what he had just achieved had no doubt played a part in the way he celebrated the goal.
His goal helped Lecce to just their third win in the Serie A this season, and their second in a row as they continue to battle relegation even at these early stages of the season.
Lecce’s season so far
Lecce’s victory over Sampdoria sees them open up a healthy eight-point gap between themselves and Cremonese who sit just inside the relegation zone.
There is more good news for them, as the win also sees them move to within two points of 12th place Salernitana.
Banda’s journey before Lecce
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Banda joined I Gialorossi in the summer of 2022 for just €2 million, after an impressive spell at Maccabi Petah Tikva where he scored nine times, and assisted twice in 34 matches for the Israeli club.
The €2m fee paid for Banda was a great return on the €300,000 investment that Maccabi Petah Tikvah made on him just one summer earlier.
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Before he moved permanently to Maccabi Petah Tikvah, he had spent some time on loan with them from his parent club Arsenal Tula.
Banda signed for Arsenal Tula from the famous Zambian club, ZESCO United, but rarely played for them, instead spending time on loan with Maccabi Netanya, and Maccabi Petah Tikvah, and later signing permanently with the latter.
It is left to see just how historic Banda can become, we don't know what his career holds, but whatever happens, he will always be remembered as the first Zambian to score in the Serie A.
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