The Big Interview: Racheal Kundananji

The Zambia superstar ended the Liga F season with 25 goals, rounding things off with a brace against Barcelona. The Madrid CFF forwards speaks about her story and her journey to the top.

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Kundananji has been in superb form since joining Madrid CFF at the start of the season

To say 22-year-old Racheal Kundananji is riding the crest of a wave right now would possibly be an understatement.

When we speak, the Zambia international has 23 Liga F goals for Madrid CFF this season, a team sat comfortably in mid-table but not pushing for the European spots.

It’s the flying forward’s first season in the Spanish capital and even ducks haven’t taken to water quite as quickly as Kundananji has to Madrid.

At the weekend, she scored two more to take her tally to 25 for the campaign in the last game of the season, but these were extra significant. Firstly, they were against the best team in Europe, Barcelona, and secondly ended their hopes of a second consecutive unbeaten season, ending their incredible run at 65 games.

Because that’s where Kundananji is at right now. If it wasn’t using her acceleration to beat Sandra Paños to the ball for the first goal, it was her strength to shrug Irene Paredes aside for the second, as well as her calm finishes.

“In football, you have to enjoy it when you’re playing. If you don’t enjoy it you will struggle…”

Kundananji is one of the fastest rising stars anywhere in Europe and another exciting African prospect, following in the footsteps of Zambian teammate Barbra Banda, as well as Inter Milan’s hotshot striker Tabitha Chawinga and Barcelona’s very own Asisat Oshoala, among others.

“The team is doing well,” she says on Madrid CFF’s season. “We have good communication in supporting each other.

“In football, you have to enjoy it when you’re playing. If you don’t enjoy it you will struggle. We all support each other, the team mates, the coaches, the way they talk to us, the way we talk to each other, all of that matters.”

Madrid CFF finished fifth, just a point off Atletico Madrid, and Kundananji missed out on the golden boot by just two goals to Levante’s Alba Redondo, making it a very good season for both player and club.

Attentions now turn to this summer’s World Cup for the striker, where Zambia will be looking to emulate the Tokyo Olympics where their brand of attacking football excited fans, scoring three against Netherlands and four against China through consecutive Banda hat-tricks, as well as a goal from Kundananji herself, before a narrow 1-0 loss to Brazil.

The striker feels they are better equipped this time around to make it out of the group stage, with Kundananji and Banda again likely to link up in attack, along with Madrid CFF team mate Grace Chanda, but face a tough group alongside Costa Rica, former world champions Japan and the country she currently calls home, Spain.

“We are confident to go there. The teams we are playing, we have played big teams before, but now we are a lot more experienced. More players are playing outside of Zambia, gaining a lot more top-level experience and I think that will help us a lot.

“Our friends back in Zambia are training hard to work on their mistakes and build confidence. Football is all about confidence, if you’re not confident you won’t enjoy it. I enjoy the game. Playing with the national team, with Barbra, with Grace, for 90 minutes you can’t spend it running alone. You have your friends to help you, that’s football. We want to play very well, we need to work on the combinations because I think we can dominate our opposition.”