winning goal in the championship final on Saturday<\/a> as Orlando Pride won their maiden title. <\/p>\nBanda was also named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the NWSL.<\/p>\n
Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati came second in the voting, while USA and Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith finished third.<\/p>\n
Norway and Barcelona winger Caroline Graham Hansen and USA and San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma were also on the shortlist.<\/p>\n
Banda became the second-most expensive women’s signing in history – behind Zambia team-mate Racheal Kundananji – when she joined Pride from Chinese club Shanghai Shengli $740,000 (\u00a3581,000) in March.<\/p>\n
“My aim always is to score because I love scoring,” said Banda. “But it all starts from practice, having good training sessions and good talks with the coaches and team-mates. <\/p>\n
“It has not been easy but I think hard work and consistency has really helped.”<\/p>\n
The Zambia captain, who came 12th in the 2024 Women’s Ballon d’Or, is a former professional boxer who won all of her five bouts before switching focus to football.<\/p>\n
“Growing up in Zambia has never been easy, especially as a young girl. It is so difficult for us to get into sport like football,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Parents never used to believe that women could play football so it was a challenge. <\/p>\n
“My mum was not in support of it, but when women’s football started being recognised in Zambia she came to understand and let me do what I love doing most.”<\/p>\n
Pride head coach Seb Hines told BBC Sport: “It is great to see Barbra getting acknowledged for what she has done, not only for our club but for African football.<\/p>\n
“She is super humble and a good person and that means a lot to us to have good people in our team.<\/p>\n
“She is a team player and, for all of the accolades that she has won and all of the goalscoring records that she has, she puts the team first.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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