Did you refer to Barbra Banda as an athletic phenom who so graciously chose the United States as her club soccer home so we could be regular witnesses to her superb talent? No? Then I don't want to hear it.
Think back to your early childhood to the most obnoxious, entitled kid you knew. The one that would throw themselves to the floor in a tantrum so unnecessary and uncalled for that even the other children around them would be embarrassed to be in the vicinity. On top of that, they had remarkable stamina, and you questioned how they could hold onto something so absurd for so long.
Now, imagine that child has the knowledge and experience of an adult and should absolutely know better. And drum roll please...I give you those targeting an exceptional female athlete with offensive and inappropriate remarks and speculations.
But the joke's on them because Barbra Banda is unbreakable and immovable (ask any defender). People speculate and whine while she wins championships and FIFA World XI nominations.
Barbra Banda deserves to be recognized for her immense talent
And so I give you a brief ode to Barbra Banda, a fearless striker with a power and confidence in her kicking foot that signals to the keeper, "go home because I can already predict today is not your day." To speak of the success of the NWSL without mentioning her name would be akin to insisting you made it out of a pitch-black cave thanks to your homing pigeon level sense of direction and not your 900+ lumen flashlight.
Her acceleration? Now you see her, now you don't. Her strength? It's cute that you tried, but were you ever really even a part of this battle? Her eye for goal? Like a dragonfly (I know...curveball, but they're remarkably successful hunters) locked in on its prey. She's not missing.
So the way I see it, Barbra Banda is right where she belongs, unapologetically dominating the NWSL.