The women’s soccer world is waiting with bated breath for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations to start—everyone, that is, except for the Orlando Pride.
The tournament, which was unceremoniously postponed from its original timeframe in March, is finally set to begin on Sunday. It promises fireworks, with some of the world’s best players lacing up their boots to chase international glory. One of those players is Barbra Banda, the Zambia captain who leads the NWSL Golden Boot race with 12 goals on the season.
Those 12 goals are at once Orlando’s greatest strength and weakness. Banda is the best attacker in the league, but her excellence is too enticing a crutch for an otherwise withering side. No other player on the team has scored more than two goals this season—there’s no obvious player who can fill Banda’s shoes in her absence.
And her absence could be lengthy. Orlando is set to play four matches before the WAFCON final on August 16 against Chicago, North Carolina, Louisville, and, their toughest test of the bunch, away at Portland. Even if Zambia goes the distance, Orlando will hope Banda is quickly available afterwards, since their first game after WAFCON ends is at Washington, who currently sit at the top of the table.
Orlando has had to go long stretches without Banda before. Last August, she acquired a season-ending injury in a match at Kansas City that was delayed multiple times due to extreme heat. Although Orlando hadn’t won a game since more than a month before that one, they continued to struggle after, amassing what became a nine-game winless streak before turning things around at the end of September to make a playoff push. They went on to make the semifinals, only losing out on a berth in the final because of a late-game Jaedyn Shaw free-kick goal.
Seb Hines has figured out how to make his team tick without Banda, but he also had several other key pieces last year that he doesn’t this year. Hailie Mace has been a good addition to the back line, but hasn’t been able to fill in Emily Sams’ defensive contributions at centerback. Rookie Solai Washington has done her best to replace the attacking spark that Ally Brazier and Carson Pickett brought, but hasn’t notched a single goal. Marta is one of those players who has scored two goals this year, but halfway through the season, it’s a far cry from the nine goals she contributed in the Pride’s record-setting 2024 campaign.
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This season, Orlando has had to play one game without Banda. She left the team’s last game before the summer break with an injury and missed the first game back, a 2-0 loss to Angel City on July 3. In that match, Orlando’s attack was nonexistent.
After a 1-0 loss to Utah on Saturday, Orlando has dropped out of playoff position in the standings.
Orlando isn’t the only team to be losing a star to WAFCON. Two-time MVP Temwa Chawinga plays for Malawi, and her Kansas City Current will miss her. But the Current have an enviable roster of attacking talent; Michelle Cooper, Croix Bethune, and Debinha can likely make do for a few games without Chawinga.
The Washington Spirit will be losing Rosemonde Kouassi (Côte d’Ivoire), Gift Monday (Nigeria), and Deb Abiodun (Nigeria), but they’ve got one of the deepest rosters in the league. Even Bay FC, who will say adieu to Banda’s Zambia teammate Racheal Kundananji, seems poised for less of a drop-off than Orlando, as Karlie Lema and Alex Pfeiffer are on a roll. (That is not to say that a Kundananji-less Bay is as good as a Banda-less Orlando, just that Kundananji is less central to Bay’s success than Banda is to Orlando’s).
Perhaps there’s magic to be made in a true team effort, if Marta, Washington, Angelina, Lizbeth Ovalle, as well as supporting players Haley McCutcheon, Summer Yates, Julie Doyle, and Ally Lemos can heat up going forward. Maybe the defense can truly meld, too (Banda’s defensive work should not be overlooked).
But magic is hard to summon when the foundation isn’t there to build it on. Unless the Pride gets some new blood, stat, it’s doubtful that they’ll be able to turn things around. If I’m general manager Caitlin Carducci, I’m calling Racing Louisville every day until they agree to trade for Emma Sears.
The Pride just announced it has loaned Seven Castain to USL Super League side Dallas Trinity for the rest of the season. The rookie forward had a tremendous college career, but her talent hasn’t fully translated to the pros. Perhaps Orlando is making room on the roster for a new signing — Pride fans are crossing their fingers that this is the case.
