Olisa Ndah nominated for Player of the Month Award

Olisa Ndah nominated for Player of the Month Award
Credit: Icon Sport

Nigerian defender Olisa Ndah has been nominated for the Orlando Pirates’ October Player of the Month award.

This recognition comes after a wonderful run in the team for the former Akwa United defender. 

Ndah, who barely made an appearance in the previous months, was given an opportunity in October, he took it well and has continued to feature in games for the Buccaneers. 

Orlando Pirates had a couple of results in the month under review as they added to their trophy collection and went the whole month unbeaten.

Olisa Ndah nominated for Orlando Pirates October Player of the Month Award

Super Eagles defender Ndah has been rewarded for his efforts at the heart of Orlando Pirates’ defence with a nomination for the monthly award.

Ndah, who had made no appearance before October, went ahead to play across three competitions for Jose Riveiro’s side.

 

Ndah will battle with Patrick Maswanganyi, Miguel Timm, Deon Hotto, and Tapelo Xoki for the award.

As announced on the club’s official X handle, fans are expected to vote for their favourite choice and the eventual winner will be announced soon.

Olisa Ndah’s October review

The former Akwa United defender had a very busy month with the Bucs as he helped them reclaim the MTN8 trophy on his first appearance of the season.

Ndah replaced Nkosinathi Sibisi in the final against Mamelodi Sundowns after less than 20 minutes in and went on to play a key role in helping his side claim the bragging rights over Masandawana. 

It was Ndah’s first appearance of the campaign and he never looked out of place throughout the match keeping Peter Shalulile and others in check.

By virtue of that strong performance, Riveiro handed Ndah his first start of the season when Pirates faced Cape Town Spurs in the round of 16 of the Carling Telekom Cup.

The 25-year-old center-back was on for the entire duration of the match as the Bucs marched into the next round of the competition courtesy of goals from Tapelo Xoki and Kermit Erasmus.

Ndah then made his first league appearance of the season in the goalless draw at Amazulu before making another appearance just three days later against Polokwane City. 

In the four games Ndah featured for Pirates in October, he helped his side avoid defeat and they also kept three clean sheets from four games. 

Can Ndah to gatecrash the Super Eagles before the AFCON?

Ndah’s quality has never been questioned even when he was still playing in the Nigeria Premier Football League with Akwa United. His exploits then earned him a move to Orlando Pirates and it has been a decent journey so far.

Ndah was part of the Super Eagles squad at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon in 2021 and even went ahead to play some minutes in the final group game against Guinea-Bissau.

However, he has not been able to get a run in the Super Eagles and has not played under Jose Pesiro since his appointment. When he was due to play against Portugal before the World Cup in Qatar, he sustained an injury, and that ruled him out of the contest.

However, with the AFCON on the horizon again, Ndah – who has now made seven appearances for Pirates since early October – will hope he can get into Peseiro’s plans for the continental showpiece starting in January.

This article was most recently revised and updated 11 months ago

Daniel Kolade
All-round lover of the beautiful game. Massive football fan, supported Arsenal for decades for reasons that are unexplainable. One day we will win the Champions League!
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