CONGRATULATIONS TO PATSON DAKA
Dear Editor,
ZAMBIA national soccer team and former RB Salz- burg striker Patson Daka recently signed a five-year football contract with the England Premier League outfit, Leicester City. Patson is a prolific striker whose football skills will be appre- ciated at Leicester City.
Patson is one of the Zam- bian players to ply his trade in Europe. Others are Collins Mbesuma and Emmanu- el Mayuka who played for Portsmouth and Southamp- ton respectively. The unfortu- nate part is that the duo did not make a mark.
Patson came in the lime light during the 2017 Un- der-20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament which was host- ed by Zambia at National He- roes Stadium.
Zambia subsequently won the football tournament. Pat- son was one of the key play- ers who played a significant role at the tournament.
In addition, Patson and his friends guided RB Salzburg, the Austrian outfit to win the four league titles. This was not a small achievement.
Patson has made Zam- bia proud by clinching the professional football stint at Leicester City. It is my fervent wish and prayer that Patson will perform exceptionally well at his new club.
Patson’s move will ulti- mately inspire some Zambi- an players to work hard and clinch professional football stints in Europe where the league is competitive. How- ever, this will be good news for mother Zambia in that it will raise the bar of the plum- meted football standards at all levels.
All said and done, Patson as a people’s hero in football is really inspiring to other footballers in Zambia. I wish Patson all the best in his foot- ball endeavours at Leicester City at which he has signed a five-year contract from June 2021 to June 2026.
ELEMIYA PHIRI, Lusaka.
