SAKALA IN DREAMLAND AS STRIKER WINS FIRST LEAGUE TITLE

8 excellent goals in all competitions from 19-year-old Enock Sakala helped ZESCO United win its’ 9^th Zambian Super League title and qualify for CAF Inter-club competitions.

ZESCO United cantered away the league title having amassed seventy-one points opening a sixteen point gap at the top of the league table with 2nd placed Zanaco finishing the season with fifty-five points.

The 2020/21 season saw ZESCO United’s nascent striker, Sakala become the club’s formidable talisman helping the team run away with the league title.

In his debut season, Sakala scored seven league goals and further claimed a goal in the Absa cup competition which ZESCO United lost in the finals to Lusaka Dynamos.

The 19-year-old striker’s career at the highest level of the Zambian game took off with lightening speed scoring his first goal for the club in his second game of the season.

Like his father, Enock Sakala senior’s overwhelming ability to score goals with his head, Sakala junior picked up from where his father left off 8-years ago.

A towering figure in the opposition penalty box, Sakala overwhelmed several defenses he came up against during the 2020/21 league campaign.

Having graduated to the senior team in 2019, Sakala’s breakthrough to play first team football started under the tutelage of coach Numba Mumamba.

Today, the nascent ZESCO United striker is living in dreamland not just for having won his first league title but also for having managed to break into the club’s main team.

“Winning the first title in my debut season is something I can’t explain. The feeling is great, and I thank God for this rare opportunity because there are players who have played in the league for more than five seasons and yet they haven’t won anything,” Sakala said.

Sakala also disclosed that the competition in the league required him to double his work rate.

“It is not easy for any player because every game you play is a new game. This is different from the senior players because they have the experience. It takes a lot of support for one to grow and develop and learn new things. You need team work, hard work and individual brilliance to succeed.

I am very happy with what I have achieved in my debut season with the club. It is not easy to fit in especially that I haven’t played competitive football before. However, the support from everyone has made life easy for me.,” he said.

The shift from playing youth football to playing at the highest level of the Zambian game didn’t swallow Sakala’s confidence in front of goal.

“I am not surprised that I have been able to score 8 goals in all the competitions because I am a striker and my job is to score goals. I was doing the same even at junior level.”

The league winner is happy that more and more young players have been given chance to feature in ZESCO United’s league campaign saying it has helped him easily settle into the main team.

“It is encouraging to see more young players given the chance to play for ZESCO United. This has made life easy for me because you have young players to interact with and seeing them grow in the game gives me the urge to work hard too,” Sakala added.

Sakala, however, feels that he has a great deal of work to do if he must command a place in the ZESCO United squad when the champions start their CAF Champions league campaign.

“There is a lot to learn for me especially in terms of scoring. Playing champions league football is what everyone looks forward to. However, I am also alive to the fact that the level in CAF is different and I need to up my game if I am to be successful at that level. Otherwise am super excited at the prospect of playing champions league football.”

Author: Desmond Katongo