Copper Queens suffer incredible 6-5 loss

by Staff Reporter

Monday Jul 29, 2024. 00:24

Zambia suffered an incredible 6-5 loss to Australia in their second match at the women’s football tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games, held at Stade de Nice on Sunday evening.

The Copper Queens – inspired by a hat-trick from Barbra Banda (her third career treble in Olympic football) – found themselves 5-2 up, but the Matildas fought back to claim a jaw-dropping victory in a crazy Group B match.

The result meant Australia registered their first three points of the tournament (joining Germany and USA, who played each other later on Sunday), while Zambia remained rock bottom on zero points.

Zambia got off to a flying start, with star attacker Banda latching onto Racheal Nachula’s assist and scoring within the opening 60 seconds to put the Southern Africans into the lead.

Yet the Copper Queens’ ascendancy lasted only a short while, with Australia levelling in the seventh minute via Alanna Kennedy to make it 1-1.

The Matildas dominated possession from then on, but Zambia were the more threatening side in attack and reclaimed the lead in the 21st minute via Racheal Kundananji.

And things got even better for the African side three minutes past the half-hour mark when they scored again, with Banda netting her second to open up a 3-1 lead.

Australia again responded swiftly, with Hayley Raso converting Kyra Cooney-Cross’s assist to reduce the deficit to 3-2 with 10 minutes of the first half to play.

Yet Zambia – and Banda in particular – remained a major goal threat and the USA-based attacker completed her hat-trick in the first minute of injury time before the interval to see her team 4-2 up.

And it was 5-2 soon after the restart, with Kundananji netting her second on 56 minutes, but Australia responded with a triple substitution and quickly reduced the deficit to 5-4 by the midway point of the second half, as Michelle Heyman and Stephanie Catley found a way through the Zambian defence.

And the Matildas kept flooding forward in attack as the second half wore on, finally drawing level at 5-5 in the 77th minute when Catley scored her second – this time from the penalty spot – and their winner arrived via Heyman in the final minute of the regulation 90.

Zambia will complete their Group B campaign on Wednesday 31 July with a match against Germany at Stade Geoffrey Guichard in Saint-Etienne, with Australia taking on United States in Marseille at the same time.