After winning their first trophy in 28 years, Nigeria top-flight club Bendel Insurance of Benin believe they will be a title contender in the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup competition.
To land the continental ticket, the Benin Arsenal as Insurance are also known as pipped Rangers I-0 in a keenly contested Federation Cup final played in Asaba on 21 June 2023.
Striker Imade Oasarankhoe’s penalty goal in the first half was enough to secure the title for Insurance who last won a trophy in 1995 when they lifted the West African Football Union WAFU club championship.
28 years down the line, another continental campaign in the Confederation Cup beckons.
Assessing her team’s chances in the upcoming championship the Permanent Secretary in the Edo State Sports Comission Mrs Sabina Chike explained that with the right planning, Insurance would be in the Confederation Cup to win it:
“We will go back to the drawing board, we will restrategize because continental ticket is not something you joke about.
“We will not disappoint.
“We are not just qualifying for the continental, we’ve qualified for the continental and we will come back with the continental cup.”
Mrs Chike’s belief in Insurance to win the 2nd tier CAF club competition might not be after all misplaced, giving that the Benin club lifted the 1994 edition of the CAF Cup, a tournament that later metamorphosed into the present day Confederation Cup.
However the passionate sports administrator knows to win any CAF tournaments requires much more than belief:
“We will get new players, not just new players, we will get experienced players that would be able to get us what we want.
“We are already talking with people to help us recruit, we will have a good team to add to what we already have.
“The backroom staff, the players, it will be beefed up so that we will have a good team that will represent on the continent.”
One of the players Insurance will be relying on to deliver on the continent this upcoming continental season is striker Imade Osarenkhoe who scored 8 goals in the top-flight to emerge joint 3rd highest scoring marksman.
The 21 year old striker is already relishing the prospect of playing on the African club scene:
“The feeling is awesome.
“Get to play the likes of big teams from other African countries is going to be waow.
“And definitely we know we are a work in progress, there are many things we ourselves the players, the management need to work on.
“Definitely we are going to leave no stone unturned this time around and we intend to work towards it tactically and otherwise.”
The first round qualifying stage of the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup will start on 20 August 2023.
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