Bendel Insurance Player of the Year nominees revealed

Bendel Insurance Player of the Year nominees revealed
Credit: @BendelInsurance Twitter

Bendel Insurance had an impressive 2022/23 Nigeria Professional Football League season for a club who just gained promotion.

Monday Adigie's side finished the regular season on top of Group A in the abridged campaign, going unbeaten in 26 straight games across all competitions, a streak that ended at the hands of Rivers United during the Super Six playoffs.

Although Bendel Insurance failed to continue their impressive league run into the Super Six Championship playoffs, they were able to win the Aiteo Cup (Nigeria's FA Cup) to round up what has been a good campaign for the Benin Arsenal. They will be representing Nigeria in the 2023/24 CAF Confederations Cup.

The club's good showing across the competitions they played was down to the players who did their best. However, some of these players performed really well which the club's management have decided to nominate for Player of the Year award.

You can vote for Bendel Insurance Player of the Year award through this link: Click to Vote

Bendel Insurance Player of the Year nominees

Five players have been nominated for the Player of the Year award by the Nigeria FA Cup champions, Bendel Insurance. They are Amas Obasogie, Divine Nwachukwu, Imade Osarenkhoe, Ismail Sarki and Tani Benjamin.

We'll take a look at how these players performed during the course of the 2022/23 Nigeria Professional Football League season for Bendel Insurance.

Amas Obasogie

Amas Obasogie is the captain and goalkeeper of Bendel Insurance. He was in goal when Insurance went on a 26 games unbeaten run across all competitions last season, keeping a total of 12 clean sheets in the process. Amas made the NPFL team of the season.

Amas also kept a clean sheet in the final of the Aiteo Cup, which is Nigeria's FA Cup, as his side edged out a 1-0 win over Rangers International of Enugu in a hard-fought victory in June.

Divine Nwachukwu

On gaining promotion to the NPFL, Bendel Insurance secured the signature of attacking midfielder Divine from Adoration FC in September, 2022.

Divine became a sensation in his first season at the Benin City club as he helped Adigie's side to finish top of Group A in the abridged season, and qualify for the Super Six playoffs.

He'd an impressive outing for Bendel Insurance in the NPFL Championship round, scoring three times for Insurance. He made the Championship best XI.

His stellar performances in the playoffs earned him a callup to the Super Eagles team for the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers.

Imade Osarenkhoe

Imade excelled in the just concluded season. The youngster was impressive for the Benin club last season. His eight goals and 2 assists contributed to Bendel Insurance topping the NPFL Group A table during the abridged season and went on to appear in the NPFL team of the regular season as one of the best forwards.

Although he failed to produce his regular season form as he led the attack for Bendel Insurance in the Championship playoffs, he was able to get the only goal of the Aiteo Cup final which ended 1-0, ensuring Bendel Insurance emerged as winners of the FA Cup. He is a strong contender for the award.

Ismail Sarki

20-year-old Ismail Sarki joined Bendel Insurance in July, 2022 and was quick to adapt into the team. He formed a strong partnership with Imade upfront as both players ran the show for Bendel Insurance last season.

The youngster excelled in his first season under Adigie, scoring six goals and 1 assist in all competitions.

Tanimu Benjamin

Tanimu Benjamin is a strong central defender who joined Insurance in 2018. He has been with the team through the good and bad times.

He was solid in defense and was instrumental to the success of Insurance in the league and also in the FA Cup last season.

He was one of the best performers for Insurance last season, appearing also in the NPFL team of the Super Six playoffs. His nomination for the club's Player of the Year award by the Benin Arsenal management was well deserved.

The winner of the award will be announced at the ‘Bendel Insurance Dinner and Awards Night 2023' event which comes up later this month.

This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago

Joseph Abadi
Joseph is a freelance writer who spends most of his time writing engaging football contents. Based in Nigeria, Joseph is a die-hard Real Madrid fan with over 8 years experience in the sports betting space. He has covered football match previews, predictions, and news across leagues in Africa and Europe.
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