the times | Wednesday December 22 2021 2GM 65
Sport
Rising star aiming to put
Zambia on football map
P
atson Daka’s stellar rise has
taught something of a lesson
in Zambian football. The
Leicester City striker, who
has averaged almost a goal
every two games this season since
arriving from Red Bull Salzburg, was
once a precocious 12-year-old who
had the misfortune of coming
through a broken system, with Kafue
Celtic, that is only being fixed now.
Kafue is a factory town in the south
of Zambia, near the border with
Zimbabwe. It is a small, mostly urban
area, known for its production of iron,
agricultural fertilisers and, as of 2021,
Premier League footballers.
Daka, 23, who burst on to the scene
in English football with four goals for
Leicester against Spartak Moscow in
October, first came to the attention of
Lee Kawanu, the founder and
president of Kafue Celtic, in 2012.
Kawanu made a point of watching the
age-group sides, which brought with
it the inevitable chore of fielding
scouting reports from pushy parents.
One such parent was Nathtali Daka, a
former winger for Celtic’s cross-town
rivals, Nitrogen Stars.
“Nathtali came to me and told me
that he had a son who was going to be
a special player, someone I would be
really happy with,” Kawanu says. “I
thought he was just being one of
those dads. I brushed it off and didn’t
think anything else of it.
“Then, two years later, I went to see
our reserves play. I was watching with
the head coach of the first team, and
there was this skinny kid shooting
from outside the box with his left foot.
He had such a powerful left foot, and
he was very aggressive with the ball.
He almost looked too busy.
“I asked the coach who he was and
he said, ‘Oh, it’s Nathtali’s kid —
remember he used to come with his
dad?’ I said surely this isn’t the kid he
was talking about. I told the coach to
get him training with the first team.
He was 14 then.”
Kawanu admits to a certain amount
of regret at not taking Nathtali’s
boasts about his son seriously. Zambia
is a country with a good football
record in Africa, but has little to show
for it. Despite reaching six Africa Cup
of Nations semi-finals, their only title
came in 2012. They have never
qualified for the World Cup, and were
knocked out of the present qualifiers
by Equatorial Guinea. Traditionally,
European scouts have rarely come to
Zambia.
Kawanu puts that down to a
backwards way of developing players,
with too little attention paid to
tactical education. Young Zambian
players are left to pick up bad habits
that are difficult to shake off. Daka’s
example has emphasised the
importance of teaching players
properly how to become footballers at
a young age.
“When Patson’s dad was telling me
about him, I should have listened,”
Kawanu says. “I should have started
teaching him about tactics and the
importance of a good first touch. You
do that well in Europe with young
kids. In Africa until now, our youngLeicester’s new forward
Patson Daka has come
long way from timid
boy booed by own fans,
says Robert O’Connor
players don’t know how to position
themselves on the pitch.
“We’re learning more about what
European clubs are looking for in
their scouting. Patson’s example has
shown us that we need to start
seriously working with players when
they are much younger.”
Daka’s story has become a
touchstone in Zambian football. He
left Kafue in 2017 to sign for Liefering,
a feeder club to Salzburg, in the
Austrian second division, and made
his debut for Salzburg the same year.
Representatives from the club had
travelled to Zambia to meet him when
the country hosted the Under-20
Africa Cup of Nations, at which Daka
was named player of the tournament
and was joint top scorer as Zambia
triumphed.
“Patson is absolutely one of my
favourite players of the last ten years,”
says Manfred Pamminger, managing
director of the Salzburg academy, who
flew to Lusaka to meet him.
It was an obvious fit. Salzburg have
proved themselves a welcoming
environment for young African
players, with Sadio Mané and Naby
Keïta among the future stars to have
found their feet in Europe at the Red
Bull Arena. Daka, playing alongside
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Enock
Mwepu, who also joined from Kafue,
adapted quickly, making 18 starts
before rapidly being moved into the
first team at the Austrian Bundesliga
champions. “Patson has, since the first
day he came to us, worked andimproved every single year,” says
Christoph Freund, sporting director at
Salzburg, where Daka scored 29 goals
in 36 games last season.
“The culmination was this last
season with us in 2020-21, in which
he really exploded. He was not only
top scorer but also the best player in
the league. When I see what has
become of Patson, who spent four
years with us as a shy, young lad, it is
extremely impressive. He has a great
mentality and with his quality,
especially with his speed, he can
really help Leicester.”
That mentality was honed back in
Kafue in exceptional circumstances.
His talent meant that he started up
front for Zambia aged only 16, making
his debut in 2015 in a friendly against
Malawi in Lusaka. He was often the
team’s lone striker and, almost
inevitably, goals were hard to come
by. The supporters turned on him,
and Daka was frequently booed by his
own fans when he played for his club
— he had by now moved on loan to
Power Dynamos in the town of
Kitwe. There was suspicion among
fans that he had been elevated to the
national team unfairly, as a personal
favourite of Kawanu, who was also
responsible for youth development at
the Zambian Football Association.
“There was no question of that,”
Kawanu says. “Every coach at every
level knew he had something special.
But the fans didn’t understand that he
was too young at the time. By the
time he went to play in the Super
League, there was already a great
animosity towards him.
“Even a senior player being booed
by his own fans, it can destroy them.
I’ve seen it. It’s so traumatising. But
not Patson. I used to tell Patson that
the fans that are booing now are the
same ones that will love you later. It
just never fazed him at all.
“When I first met him he was small
and timid, a bit too shy. He seemed
too humble. I even began to doubt it
was the same player I’d seen on the
pitch. I thought I had made a mistake.
He was so feisty when he played, so
characterful. I quickly realised that
what he is on the pitch is something
very different. I came to realise that
he is not soft, he is respectful. If you
push him he’s going to stand his
ground. He has a very strong
character. And he has needed it.”PL Carabao Europa
J VardyP DakaJ MaddisonY TielemansH BarnesK IheanachoA Lookman51119 2 4 5 2 1 1112Leicester's top scorers this
seasonJUNG YEON-JE/AFP/GETTY IMAGESDaka was thrust into Zambia’s team at an early age, making his debut when 16Tonight’s EFL Cup fixtures
Brentford v Chelsea, 7.45pm
Radio: talkSPORT app
Liverpool v Leicester, 7.45pm
Radio: talkSPORT
Tottenham v West Ham, 7.45pm
(followed by semi-final draw)
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Radio: talkSPORT2United back on track as
Carrington opens again
Manchester United reopened their
Carrington training base yesterday
after its closure last week due to a
Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
United closed Carrington for an
initial 24 hours eight days ago and
their Premier League games at
Brentford and at home against
Brighton & Hove Albion were
postponed.
A statement on the club’s official
website said: “Manchester United’s
players have started a return to
training at Carrington, on a staggered
basis. Hence, this will now give
interim manager Ralf Rangnick and
his squad time to prepare for our next
fixture, the Premier League meeting
with Newcastle United on Monday.”
It was reported four players tested
positive after the 1-0 win over
Norwich City on December 11.
Fulham call in police over
racist abuse of Kebano
Fulham have reported racist messages
sent on social media towards winger
Neeskens Kebano to the police.
Kebano was subjected to the abuse,
which included racist words and
emojis, on Instagram after his side’s 1-0
defeat by Sheffield United on Monday.
The 29-year-old shared screenshots
of messages on Instagram and said:
“Don’t worry guys, I am fine, I just
wanted to expose the guy, things like
that don’t affect me at all.”
The Championship club confirmed
yesterday that the matter has been
referred to the Metropolitan Police.
“We stand firmly with him and will
be working with him to provide all
the support he needs. We will also
refer the matter to the police and
other relevant authorities to ensure
that it is dealt with appropriately,”
Fulham said in a statement.Aubameyang
FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA; LEE SMITH/DAVID KLEIN/REUTERSPatino after ‘dream’ debut
go step by step. He was lucky, he got the
opportunity and he took it really well.”
Patino was once a season-ticket
holder with his father, Juliano, a Span-
iard, at Kenilworth Road. He scored the
fifth goal after Eddie Nketiah, also an
academy graduate, grabbed a hat-trick
at a time when his future is uncertain.
The forward, 22, rejected a new con-
tract beyond this summer as he wants
regular minutes and he can sign a pre-
contract deal from next month amid
interest in Germany. “I’m eager to play
football, I’m here under contract and as
long as I play for Arsenal I will give it my
all,” Nketiah said. “If the manager
needs me I will be ready to help.” With
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of
favour and potentially leaving the club,
Nketiah could get more chances.
“We want to keep Eddie,” Arteta said.
“We are trying to [persuade him]. He
has an incredible work rate, pace and
has the smell for goals, the capacity to
finish in the box on any surface.”
Lee Johnson, the Sunderland man-
ager, said that Nathan Broadhead’s
injury needed to settle down before
being assessed. The striker scored his
eighth goal this season but limped off
before half-time. “It’s the biggest blow,”
Johnson said. “He’s devastated.”