| Sabitra Bhandari (Samba) | |
| Fullname: | Sabitra Bhandari |
| Birth Date: | 2 May 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Manang, Gandaki Province, Nepal |
| Currentclub: | En Avant Guingamp |
| Clubnumber: | 28 |
| Position: | Forward |
| Years1: | 2014–2019 |
| Clubs1: | APF |
| Years2: | 2019 |
| Clubs2: | Sethu |
| Goals2: | 15 |
| Caps2: | 7 |
| Clubs3: | Gokulam Kerala |
| Years3: | 2019–2020 |
| Caps3: | 7 |
| Goals3: | 16 |
| Clubs4: | Gokulam Kerala |
| Years4: | 2023 |
| Caps4: | 10 |
| Goals4: | 31 |
| Clubs5: | Hapoel Ra'anana |
| Years5: | 2023 |
| Caps5: | 2 |
| Goals5: | 5 |
| Clubs6: | Guingamp |
| Years6: | 2024– |
| Caps6: | 4 |
| Goals6: | 1 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2014– |
| Nationalteam1: | Nepal |
| Nationalcaps1: | 46 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 53 |
| Club-Update: | 17 June 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 17 June 2024 |
Sabitra Bhandari (Nepali: साबित्रा भण्डारी), popularly known as Samba,[1] [2] is a Nepalese professional football player who plays as a forward for Première Ligue club En Avant Guingamp and Nepal women's national team.
She is the all-time highest goal scorer in Nepalese football history and broke record as the highest woman goal scorer in South Asia with 49 goals. She made history by being the first Nepalese player to play and score in European league.[3]
At club level, Bhandari plays for APF Club. Bhandari made the Nepal team for the 2014 South Asian Football Federation Championship and made her international debut against Bhutan, coming off the bench and sealing an 8–0 victory as a 17-year-old.[4] In February 2017 she was invited to play the Maldives women's league.
She became the highest scoring women striker of south Asia at the age of 20.
She joined Indian Women's League side Sethu FC for the 2018-19 Indian Women's League season.[5] [6] [7] In her debut match she scored 4 goals for the club against Manipur Police Sports Club on 6 May 2019. She was also awarded with women of the match in her first match with Sethu FC.
She scored almost two goals a game during her time in India, leading Sethu FC to winning Indian Women’s League title.[8] [9]
Bhandari joined Gokulam Kerala FC for the 2019–2020 season, and eventually won the League championship title and was the league top scorer with 16 goals.
After joining Gokulam Kerala FC again for the 2023 season, she continued her phenomenal prolificacy, managing league top scorer 31 goals, including five hat-tricks, to fire her club to league glory.
This lead her to lifting her third Indian Women’s League trophy.[10]
Bhandari joined Hapoel Ra’anana but the 7 October attack cut her spell short after 5 goals in two games.
She made her debut on Feb 3rd, 2024 coming as a substitute on 78th minute. She is the first Nepalese player to play and score in European league.
Bhandari represents Nepal at the international level. She participated in and even scored a goal against Bhutan at the 2014 SAFF Women's Championship. She represented the country during the 2016 South Asian Games where she scored two goals against Sri Lanka.[11] She scored the only goal in a friendly victory against Malaysia on 17 December 2016.[12]
Bhandari then played in Nepal's first match of the 2016 SAFF Women's Championship against Bhutan. She scored six goals as Nepal won 8–0 to open the tournament and scored 5 goals against Maldives in the 2nd group match.[13]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Sethu FC | 2018–19 | Indian Women's League | 7 | 15 | — | — | — | 7 | 15 | ||||
| Total | 7 | 15 | — | — | — | 7 | 15 | ||||||
| Gokulam Kerala | 2019–20 | Indian Women's League | 7 | 16 | — | — | — | 7 | 16 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Indian Women's League | 10 | 29 | — | — | — | 10 | 29 | |||||
| Total | 17 | 45 | — | — | — | 17 | 45 | ||||||
| Hapoel Ra'anana | 2023–24 | Liga Alef North | 2 | 5 | — | — | — | 2 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 2 | 5 | — | — | — | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| Guingamp | 2023–24 | Division 1 Féminine | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Career total | 29 | 66 | — | — | — | 29 | 66 | ||||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nepal | 2014 | - | 1 | |
| 2015 | - | 0 | ||
| 2016 | - | 13 | ||
| 2017 | - | 1 | ||
| 2018 | - | 1 | ||
| 2019 | - | 18 | ||
| 2020 | - | 0 | ||
| 2021 | - | 0 | ||
| 2022 | - | 2 | ||
| 2023 | - | 4 | ||
| 2024 | 4 | 9 | ||
| Total | 46 | 53 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 November 2014 | 8–0 | 8–0 | 2014 SAFF Women's Championship | ||
| 2. | 13 February 2016 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2016 South Asian Games | ||
| 3. | 3–0 | |||||
| 4. | 26 December 2016 | 1–0 | 8–0 | 2016 SAFF Women's Championship | ||
| 5. | 2–0 | |||||
| 6. | 3–0 | |||||
| 7. | 5–0 | |||||
| 8. | 6–0 | |||||
| 9. | 7–0 | |||||
| 10. | 28 December 2016 | 1–0 | 9–0 | |||
| 11. | 2–0 | |||||
| 12. | 3–0 | |||||
| 13. | 4–0 | |||||
| 14. | 6–0 | |||||
| 15. | 2 January 2017 | 1–2 | 1–3 | |||
| 16. | 11 November 2018 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | ||
| 17. | 11 February 2019 | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, India | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2019 Women's Gold Cup | |
| 18. | 2–0 | |||||
| 19. | 13 February 2019 | 2–0 | 3–0 | |||
| 20. | 3–0 | |||||
| 21. | 9 April 2019 | Bahtoo Stadium, Mandalay, Myanmar | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | |
| 22. | 2–1 | |||||
| 23. | 12 March 2019 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2019 SAFF Women's Championship | ||
| 24. | 16 March 2019 | 2–0 | 3–0 | |||
| 25. | 20 March 2019 | 3–0 | 4–0 | |||
| 26. | 22 March 2019 | 1–1 | 1–3 | |||
| 27. | 8 September 2019 | 1–0 | 8–2 | Friendly | ||
| 28. | 2–0 | |||||
| 29. | 6–2 | |||||
| 30. | 7–2 | |||||
| 31. | 10 September 2019 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |||
| 32. | 5 December 2019 | Pokhara Rangasala, Pokhara, Nepal | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2019 South Asian Games | |
| 33. | 2–0 | |||||
| 34. | 3–0 | |||||
| 35. | 6 September 2022 | Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu, Nepal | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2022 SAFF Women's Championship | |
| 36. | 2–0 | |||||
| 37. | 16 February 2023 | Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, India | 1–2 | 2–2 | Friendly | |
| 38. | 2–2 | |||||
| 39. | 5 April 2023 | 1–4 | 1–5 | 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | ||
| 40. | 13 July 2023 | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | ||
| 41. | 20 February 2024 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2024 WAFF Women's Championship | ||
| 42. | 22 February 2024 | 1–0 | 5–0 | |||
| 43. | 2–0 | |||||
| 44. | 3–0 | |||||
| 45. | 4–0 | |||||
| 46. | 5–0 | |||||
| 47. | 24 February 2024 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |||
| 48. | 2–0 | |||||
| 49. | 27 February 2024 | Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 1–1 | 2–1 |
Sethu FC
Gokulam Kerala
Individual