Rickson Ng’ambi –Zambia U17s collaborative striker
Rickson Ng’ambi has had a distinguished career in U17 football as he the teenage striker has managed to win the 2019 U17 COSAFA Championship as joint top scorer with five goals while also making it to the final of the same tournament in 2020 as an essential cog to the side that would lose to South Africa on penalties. With Patson Daka shining in Europe with Red Bull Salzburg, Ng’ambi should take inspiration from his countryman to continue a lineage of top-level attacking talent. Ng’ambi has some of the physical and technical traits to easily adapt to European football at some point in the future.
Ng’ambi is a modern-day striker who enjoys dropping deep to receive possession in between the lines and connect play. He possesses a strong physique to hold off opposition defenders when he drops into the ten space to receive possession as he prefers to hold the ball up and work lay-offs. However, he also has the ability to receive possession in the deeper areas, turn and thread passes into teammates making runs in behind while also being able to switch the ball to switch the point of attack. He is akin to 18-year-old Jong Ajax striker, Christian Rasmussen as the former Norsjaelland youth product shares a willingness to drop deep and link-up play which could dull his goalscoring opportunities and instincts in the opposition box as both strikers will need to find balance between connecting play and scoring goals to truly excel at the professional level.
Despite not making the cut for Zambia’s final squad for the U17 African Cup of Nations which was set to take place in Morocco but was cancelled a week before the commencement of the tournament, the teenage striker has the talent and potential that high level European clubs should be interested in. In last year’s COSAFA U17 tournament, Ng’ambi was sharing the nine space with Charles Mumba which allowed the attacker to drop into the ten space to receive possession while also roaming in the channels to receive possession and connect play. Against Angola, he would receive possession from the right flank in the ten space and spread a pass to the left for Joseph Banda to cut inside and have a shot at goal while Ng’ambi continued his run into the box. He would then drop deep to receive possession again when Julius Kumwenda drove the ball forward before being tackled as Ng’ambi would receive possession before swivelling to shield the ball and hold off a marker as he suddenly spun past two markers to poke a pass through to Mumba who sent a shot wide but was flagged off for being offside.
Ng’ambi would continue to be accomplished with his passing, flicking on a bobbling ball for a winger to have an opportunity to run in behind before holding possession and playing the ball back to Ng’ambi who would lose possession. The thing that makes the teenage starlet so intriguing is his subtlety in connecting moves from the nine space with simple lay-offs as he would receive a long-ball from the back to lay-off for Banda to beat his man and drive the ball forward as Ng’ambi made a movement to the wide right instead of holding his positon in the nine space and making a late movement to clear space for his teammate or to receive possession to work a one-two combination. Ng’ambi can also provide stability in possession in dropping deep to receive possession before playing the ball to a teammate in the deeper areas so his side can carefully construct moves in the attacking phase.
His movements and the timing of his drops into space are perfectly synched to create a passing option for his teammates as Kumwenda was in the wide areas as he weaved into space before playing a direct pass into Ng’ambi who dropped deep for the young striker to play a one-touch lay-off for Kumwenda to flick a pass into the wide areas for a crossing opportunity. Ng’ambi also has the mentality to lead the pressure phase from the front when his team are out of possession as he regained possession to thread a pass through for Banda who dribbled the keeper and was tripped over to win a penalty which he duly despatched. Ng’ambi continued his talent for brilliant link-up play when he dropped out of the nine space to receive possession from Dominic Kanda to lay-off for Kumwenda as the two nearly worked a one-two which could have led to a shooting opportunity.
Ng’ambi received possession in the right channel to swivel, stand-up his marker and play the ball back to a teammate who attempted a cross which was off target. After a turnover, he would shield the ball from an opposition defender to drive the ball inside and find Banda with a brilliant pass for the young winger to cut inside and have a shot blocked. In the build-up phase, he would receive possession in the right channel again to flick on for a winger to create a counter-attacking situation as the young striker is a clever transitional player, not only possessing the well-developed sense for combination play to string attacking sequences together in the final third to create shooting opportunities for teammates but also connect play from deep to create breaking situations.
Against Malawi, he would score after being played in behind by a long ball to lob the keeper over the keeper from range to score Zambia’s second goal. He would then lay the ball off for a pass in behind as a Zambian winger was caught offside. He would then receive a cross from the right flank to have a shot saved with his weaker right foot. Being a left footed striker provides an intriguing background for Ng’ambi as he will need to improve his shooting ability with his weaker foot as this will allow him to take on deliveries and passes from the right as he would from the left. Being able to shoot with both feet will also allow him to create shooting opportunities from tight spaces in and around the box as he will waste less time shifting possession onto his stronger left foot to take shots.
He would then hold up possession, receiving possession in the nine space to turn and thread a pass in behind for a winger to have a shooting opportunity in the box as the player was wrongly flagged off for offside. This was similar to a sequence of play from the Angola match where he managed to thread a pass in behind for Mumba as Ng’ambi can provide creativity in the final third. He would receive possession in his own half in the right half-space to swivel and thread a pass for a winger to go in behind as Ng’ambi made a run into the box as the cross was cleared before it reached him. Ng’ambi would also create another counter-attack when he received possession outside his own box to play a long pass to Banda with the outside of his right boot for the winger to weave into the centre and attempt to thread a pass for a runner.
Ng’ambi was one of the standout players in the final against South Africa, continuing his ability to create opportunities for his teammates. He received possession in the channels to lay-off for a teammate to shoot wide. His ability to drop in between the lines to receive possession to lay-off for midfielders or to turn and play through balls to runners was phenomenal as he continued to be a thorn in the side of the opposition with this aspect of his game. He worked a combination with Banda for his winger to drive into the box as he was unable to get a shot away. He created yet another opportunity when he received possession in between the lines to hold possession on the outside of his left boot to easily swivel and thread a pass in behind for Mumba to have a shot on goal. Ng’ambi created another opportunity when he switched possession for Mumba to have a shot deflected off target at the back-post.
Despite his ability as a link-up player, Ng’ambi needs to improve his close control as there were regular instances where he received possession with his back to goal to spin past his marker, but he was tackled as he was unable to beat his second man. These sequences will allow him to create shooting opportunities for himself as he will be able to turn and surge into the box to open his body and shoot or turn and work connections with a teammate and drive into the box to shoot. His movement in the box will also need to improve as he can seem stagnant when the ball is out wide with a teammate preparing to cross, sometimes moving to the back-post where his teammate will have less of an opportunity with finding him with a delivery. He will need to begin to make dashes to the near post to receive low crosses and have higher quality opportunities on goal or decide when to hold his run at the top of the box to receive possession. As a tall and muscular attacker, he has the potential to be an imposing aerial threat, but this relies on improving his movements and instincts in the box. His finishing with both feet will also come to the fore with crosses as being adept with both feet will allow him to finish with one-touch from deliveries which would be crucial.
Ng’ambi is certainly a player capable of developing in a high-level academy while he will be able to show a considerably high level of talent if he attends trials in Europe. A move to Danish clubs such as Midtylland or Nordsjaelland who have a track-record of developing African talent would be perfect for him while there are also clubs like AS Trencin in Slovakia which were established for acquiring and developing African talent like his before selling him to another European League. The gold-standard for Ng’ambi would be Ligue 1 club or a move to Red Bull Salzburg with a preparation stint at Liefering where he would be able to follow the path of his counterparts, Patson Daka and Enock Mwepu. He could follow another counterpart in Kalusha Bwalya with stints in Belgium or with PSV Eindhoven who have developed a track record of acquiring strikers at a later stage of their teens to develop with their Jong PSV side before promoting them to their first team side. Despite Ng’ambi being left out of the Zambia U17 side, it should be said that his future is very bright with the potential he possesses as an all-round striker.
