KATHMANDU, Feb 23: Sabitra Bhandari alias Samba, a forward of Nepali women’s football team, completed 50 international goals. 

She scored five goals against Iran during the WAFF Women’s Championship in Saudi Arabia on Thursday and completed the 50 international goals.  

She had scored one goal before this in the same championship when Nepal defeated Iran by 4-1.

After scoring six goals in two matches, she set the record of becoming the first Nepali footballer to complete 50 international goals. 

Sabitra Bhandari, also known as the ‘Goal Machine’, scored her first international goal in 2014 during the SAFF Women’s Championship against Bhutan. She has been scoring in various events like the South Asian Games, Olympic qualifiers, Hero Women’s World Cup, Nadezda Gold Cup, and friendly matches.

She scored 19 goals in total across four tournaments in the South Asian Championships. She also scored five goals in two South Asian Games. During Olympic qualifiers, she netted the ball four times in two matches. Additionally, she scored four goals in the 2019 Hero Gold Cup in India and seven in the Nadezda Gold Cup in Kyrgyzstan.

Bhandari has scored five goals in international friendlies, including two against Malaysia and India, and one against Bangladesh. Notably, she has had exceptional performances against certain teams, scoring nine goals against Bhutan and seven against the Maldives.

She has achieved five hat tricks in her international career, with the latest one against Iran. She had two against the Maldives, and one each against Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan. During the SAFF Women’s Championship in India in 2016, she scored a double hat trick against Bhutan, totaling five goals in the tournament. Another hat trick was during the 2019 Nadezda Gold Cup against Kyrgyzstan, and during the 13th SAG Games in Pokhara the same year, she secured a hat trick against the Maldives.

 
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