Zambia's Copper Queens beat China 4-4 in an Olympic thriller on Saturday, with China's Barbara Banda becoming the first player - male or female - to score consecutive hat-tricks in the tournament, while Wang Shuang scored all four of the Asian goals. side goals.
Africa's lone representatives bounced back from a 10-3 loss at the hands of European champions the Netherlands in their opener on Wednesday - the country's biggest football defeat - during a rollercoaster contest to keep alive their bleak hopes of progressing from Group F.
They and China are both on one point from their opening two games, while the Netherlands and Brazil - both on three points - meet later on Saturday.
Zambia, lively yet exposed, are lucky to survive the competition as Shuang was denied fifth place on death when Copper Queens keeper Hazel Nal - blamed for his errors against the Dutch - who He had made himself big enough to refuse further attempts. deflected on the crossbar.
China, whom Brazil had defeated 5–0 in their first Olympics, got off to a strong start at Miyagi Stadium, and took the lead through the indomitable Shuang in the sixth minute, when he calmly entered the box after being played by Zhang Xin. ended. .
There were warning signs for Zambia, who made three changes from the opening minute of the competition after beating the Netherlands.
The African defense was immediately caught by Wang Xiaoxue with a through ball, only to be flagged for offside by Shin.
BIIK Kazigert forward Rachael Kundnanzi equalized for Shepolopolo nine minutes later when she met Esther Siamfuko's cross to head home with a fine eye effort, but the Zambian defense which was struggling against the Dutch, again Was exposed when Wang Shanshan added another - only for VAR to interfere with the offside call.
Zambia's respite was brief, as Shuang restored China's lead with two in the space of two minutes of the first half.
In the 22nd minute, he reacted quickest to Wang Shuang's header to restore the Chinese lead, before finishing calmly ahead of the tap to capitalize on a fine pass from the same player a minute later and wrapping up his hat-trick. .
At the end of first-half stoppage time, Zambia, ranked 104 in the world, began their second comeback of the day, with Banda - the first female player from her country to play in China - led.
The 21-year-old broke several individual records in a 10–3 defeat by the Netherlands despite the chaos around him, becoming Zambia's first scorer in the tournament, the first African to score a hat-trick in the competition and the continent's highest all-time in Olympic history. female scorer.
The top scorer of the 2020 Chinese Women's Super League was in sensational form again, netting coolly from the spot two minutes after the break when the impressive Kundanji was brought down in the box.
At the start of the second half, it was 3-3 as captain Banda - who plays his football for Shanghai Shengli - put up a fine performance with Kundanji once again firing a short shot from a counter.
Both teams had conceded a combined 21 goals by this point in the tournament, and just before the hour mark it looked like China might draw the next blood when Ochumba Oseke was penalized for a high boot in the box. The referee referred to VAR, who ultimately considered his approval to be within the rules, prompting a relief from the Zambian team.
However, China had little answer to Banda, who gave Zambia the lead - the first time they have all been ahead of the tournament - 21 minutes from time, when he scored a brilliant dribble goal, taking out two China defenders in the process. Dia, before finishing ahead of Peng Shimeng, who had previously denied her on several occasions.
Shuang's duel with Banda was not over, however, and he also added another from the penalty spot in the 84th minute, when Lushomo Mwemba was deemed to have handled the ball in the Zambia box after a painful VAR check.
Li Quintong was later sent off to cut Banda, which gave China's defense a hard time in all competition, and had to be a final turn in the tail, when the heroic last-minute stop of the groove deprived Shuang of fifth. done.
Zambia has already broken the record for goals scored by an African team in a single Olympic event, although the draw leaves both teams with plenty to advance to the quarter-finals; China will face the Netherlands in Yokohama and in their final matches on Tuesday, Zambia will face Brazil in Saitama.