Patson Daka among top five best finishers in the world – Micho

By Aaron Mubanga Jnr | March 24, 2021

Zambia National team head coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic has heaped praise on ‘world class’ Chipolopolo center-forward Patson Daka ahead of tomorrow’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Algeria.

Micho believes the Redbull Salzburg star is among the top five finishers in the world but has a lot of room to improve.

Daka has enjoyed a sensational season in front of goal for the Austrian side, having scored 27 goals in 31 games across all competitions, including an incredible 20 strikes in 18 matches in the country’s Bundesliga to make him comfortably the league’s top scorer.

“Even before coming, I knew Patson Daka, Having in mind that Fred Kanoute is my friend. This is a player who was a punching bag during his time at Power Dynamos. He has stood firm and believed that this is what God has designated for him and to use in the best possible way,” Micho told the ZamFoot Crew.

“He has worked hard to become by my view among the top five finishers in the world. He still has a lot of room to improve ahead. Where he is now he needs to stretch beyond, He needs to find the best version of himself. He is always out of his comfort zone.”

“We have been in touch always even when he was injured against Athletico Madrid and he could not go play for us,” he added.

The Serbian who previously likened the former Power Dynamos striker to Cameroon and Barcelona legend Samuel Eto’o is confident he will reach that level because of his zeal and determination.

“We want the National team and his club to become a bouncing ball for him to jump and represent Zambia in a real way. My prediction is that he could reach and surpass the likes of Samuel Eto’o, I just pray hard, he still has a long way to go,” he said.

“His zeal and his desire to reach that far daily and his human and sports quality have simply guaranteed that he will reach eventually one day. We just here as a national and as a team for him to support us and us support him in two-way traffic.”

Daka is expected to lead the attack when Zambia hosts Algeria at the National Heroes Stadium tomorrow at 21:00 CAT. The game will be live on the National Broadcaster, ZNBC.

The Copper Bullets will wrap up the qualifiers with an away fixture against Zimbabwe on Monday next week.