Joseph Sabobo Banda – Barca Academy’s mercurial prodigy
The construction of the Barca Academy structures in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia gave some of the city’s best young talent the opportunity for early identification as well as the structures for specialization and honing their talent. Joseph Sabobo Banda grew up in Lusaka’s Chaisa Compound with his mother as his introduction to the academy as well as the Zambian youth sides have seen him begin a journey as one of Zambia’s most prodigious talents, even having the experience of training with the Zambian National Team as a 14-year-old while starring at schoolboy level as well as U17 level. He would have been one of the starlets to watch at the recently cancelled U17 African Cup of Nations.
The beginning of his emergence started with the Zambia U15 National Team in Croatia at the ‘Vlatko Markovic’ Croatia Invitational Tournament as he finished as top scorer at the tournament despite only playing in two games while the rest of the teams played in four games. The 14-year-old scored three goals as Zambia had to end its participation in the tournament early after two players in their squad contracted coronavirus. Zambia National Team Head Coach, Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic would reward the teenager with a callup to training sessions with the Zambia National Team as the teenager would share a beautiful moment with Arsenal Tula midfielder, Kings Kangwa. Kangwa would hand the 14-year-old a pair of boots and words of encouragement as Micho would highlight that gesture to the Zambian press.
Despite being only 15-years-old, Banda excels with his low centre of gravity beautiful first touch and ability to change direction in an instant to weave past players or accelerate past them. He does not have the blistering pace of many young wide players, but he has tremendous strength to hold off youngsters in shoulder to shoulder tussles while being able to accelerate with the ball at his feet as his close control is magnetic, giving him an important edge in 1v1s. His strength allows him to play years above his age as even at U17 level, he consistently outmuscles and overpowers opposition defenders. The development of his footballing brain will be interesting to see as he has developed a penchant for weaving into the central areas and trying to thread through balls into teammates. He is able to play both wide positions effectively but has also shown an intelligence in receiving possession in between the lines in the central channels and being able to string together connections to orchestrate attacking moves.
The 2020 U17 COSAFA CUP, was a youth tournament held in December last year for youth National Teams in Southern Africa which also acted as a qualifying tournament for the U17 African Cup of Nations. In the opener against Angola, he received a lobbed pass to the left flank with a marker ahead of him as he beat his first marker by controlling the ball with his right foot to push the ball towards the by-line before bursting past a second defender to outmuscle him and leave him in a heap before Banda would cut a pass back to the top of the box with his left foot for two Zambian players which led to a looped strike over the crossbar. He would then create another opportunity with another switch ball to the left flank, controlling the ball before cutting inside to send a raking pass to the nine space for Rickson Ng’ambi to control the ball and have a strike saved from outside the box.
Banda is a multi-faceted attacker who has the poise and directness to act as a play who can link play between the defensive phase and ease transition into the attacking phase while acting as both a chance creator and a goal scorer in the final third. His first touches continuously allow him to beat his closest marker and set himself for a mazy dribble in the opposition half or to cut inside and create an opportunity for a teammate and himself. His next move against Angola would show this as he received a pass on the flank to dummy it instead of taking a touch as he set himself on the half-turn and allowed the ball to roll across him and his marker so he could set himself to chase the ball and skip past an opposition player on the right flank before cutting back inside with a flick to then look to cut outside to drive the ball along the by-line before he was tackled for a corner.
Another move would then encapsulate his abilities as a multi-dimensional attacker, driving the ball to the touchline as he received the ball on the right flank to be hemmed into tight quarters by two opposition markers as one approached him to retrieve possession for Banda to calmly shield the ball from him while driving to the by-line before sliding the ball past the other marker to burst past both of them before skipping past a third Angolan defender and cutting a pass back into the box where Charles Mumba missed the ball at the near post for the delivery to roll to the top of the box where a shot was blocked. In a congested area on the right flank, he would then flick the ball over a defender and into a midfielder to work a pass into the nine space for Ng’ambi to receive possession.
He would have another impeccable first touch as he received possession on the left flank as he had his back to the opposition goal in his own half, receiving possession with his left foot which was his inside foot to flick the ball over his marker and spin before prodding the ball down the line to Mumba to instigate an attacking move. He would have another mazy dribble which was set up by a brilliant first touch, controlling a bobbling the ball to guide the ball past his marker and drive into the centre where he muscled past one physically imposing Angolan defender to skip past another before he was tackled by a third on his route into the opposition box. Earlier, he had received a lay-off from Ng’ambi to guide the ball past another defender to facilitate a burst into the opposition half before being tackled.
The teenager would score a hat-trick in his next game against Malawi, starting the game by lobbing a free-kick over the wall before it dipped perfectly into the opposition goal. He then received possession on the right flank where he back-heeled a pass to his fullback to cross for Ng’ambi to have a shot saved. Julius Kumwenda played a beautiful lobbed pass in behind to find Banda who would guide the ball past his marker towards the goal, but his touch would be too heavy as it was intercepted by a defender who nearly redirected the ball into his his own goal. He would score his second goal when Ng’ambi laid off a goal-kick to Charles Mumba who lobbed a pass for him in behind to chest the ball and smash a strike past the keeper with his right foot. He would complete his hat-trick when Dominic Kanda skipped past a marker to play the ball to Kumwenda who threaded a pass in behind for him to go through on goal on the left, take his first touch with the outside of his right boot before opening his body and calmly slotting the ball past the keeper.
Zambia would ring the changes towards the end of the second-half as Banda would have the opportunity to operate from the central areas. He would receive possession in the eight space to show his Velcro-like close control, skipping past one player to then dance past two players before playing the ball to the right back. Kanda would win possession with an interception on the right flank before working a pass to Banda who was in the eight space again, dropping deep to receive possession and lay-off to Kumwenda who played the ball to the wide areas before Kumwenda would receive possession again threading a pass to Banda in between the lines to attempt a flick for Kumwenda who continued his run, but it was intercepted. His first-touch and dribbling ability allows him to be press resistant as he links play together to construct attacking moves from the deeper central areas.
Banda will need to improve on his ability to release the ball once he embarks on his mazy runs as he can charge into congested alleys, especially when he drives the ball to the by-line or when he cuts into the centre. He has also shown the ability to work connections with teammates in the wide or central areas while he can cut inside to attempt to thread passes for runners in the central areas. The 15-year-old’s game is unerringly efficient with his first touch, dribbling and chance creating ability as his development will be about fine-tuning the finer points of his game such as his decision making in the final third as well as the dribbling, crossing and shooting with his weaker foot. He has the ability to play on both flanks while it would also help him to play as a box-to-box midfielder or central attacking midfielder in his youth to improve his knowledge of when to release the ball in more congested areas while challenging his decision making. The timing of his runs will also need to improve as he gets caught offside very regularly as it will be interesting to see his improvement with increased tactical training.
At his age, Banda can only think about continuing his sharp rise through the ranks at Zambian youth level while maintaining his fitness and focus. There will also be the prospect of many clubs looking to invite him for trials while he will be unable to sign a professional contract abroad for the next three years upon his 18th birthday. He top scored and won player of the tournament at the U17 Cosafa Cup which meant he also won the opportunity to attend trials with a La Liga club due to the partnership between COSAFA and La Liga. The U17 African Cup of Nations which was set to take place in Morocco would have been a brilliant tournament to showcase his skillset but with the tournament cancelled due to Coronavirus restraints he would have to wait as Zambia have recently applied to host the tournament. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the rise of one of Zambia’s top talents as he seeks to create a comfortable life for himself and his mother.
