Bendel Insurance, what went wrong?

Bendel Insurance, what went wrong?

Asks Clem Oluwole

Nigeria’s flag bearers in the race for this year’s Africa Cup-Winners Cup, Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin, made a disappointing first appearance in the competition at the National Stadium, Lagos, last Saturday.

Followers of Bendel including yours truly and in fact the entire nation were very hopeful that the hitherto unknown Petro Sport FC of Gabon would be burnt to smoke.

But to our utter dismay, the best the Bendel Insurance FC could offer was a 1 - 0 victory. The end result of the match has left everybody in doubt as to what chances Nigeria has in the return leg to be decided in Libreville, Gabon, on March 25.

The question that bugs me is: ‘How good are the Bendelites away?’

Almost all followers of the Bendel FC now walk around with their heads dropping on their chests in utter disappointment. One hates to think that Bendel are already out of the race… in the very first round. No, it can’t be! Something must be done and fast too. But there should be no confusion in their camp. And it is too late looking for a scapegoat.

The central question that should worry the Bendel in their camp is: What went wrong? Once they have pin pointed the factors responsible for their failure to convert several openings into goals and solutions found to them, then we can truly be sure of burning the Petro Sport to smoke in their backyard.

But from my own point of view, I think one of the factors that contributed to Bendel’s failure to crash home many goals particularly in the opening minutes was that they were probably too excited about their maiden appearance in the competition. The excitement of representing Nigeria in a prestigious competition like the Cup Winners Cup, which we first won in 1976 through the IICC of Ibadan and which was successfully defended by the Rangers of Enugu, was noticeable on the part of Bendel on Saturday.

Another factor could be that by failing to convert several initial chances into goals, the Petro Sport became very confident… an essential ingredient needed to unsettle and frustrate their hosts.

On the whole, the Bendel boys were the better side in that match. But their failure to score by a safe margin lends weight to the impression that their main ambition was to beat the Enugu Rangers who are also in the race… no more and no less.

They probably failed to realize that in a two-legged competition like this, you are placed in a very disadvantaged position if you play home first. And the only way to survive is to literally massacre your opponents so as to make the return leg more of a formality.

All the same, it is too early to write off the Insurers simply because they appear to be following the Raccah Rovers’ fashion which saw them out of the WAFU Cup competition in the first round.

My modest advice to the Bendelites is to go to Libreville with one thing in mind… to fight for a draw. Any attempt to win the return leg could be suicidal. An ultra defensive game should take care of these Petrol people. Suffice it to say that the best way to defend is to attack.

The Petro Sport are very, very hopeful now. They will come out with an amazing determination and the only way they could be frustrated is to disallow them from settling into the game. The Bendelites can achieve this by not holding on to the ball unnecessarily for too long. First-time clearance in the defence and lightning moves in their attack should see them to a draw. For instance, during the 1978 World Cup qualifying series, Nigeria beat Egypt by 4-0 in the first leg of the triangular league in Lagos and instead of the Eagles to go and fight for a draw in Cairo, the handlers underrated the Egyptians on their own soil and expected another massacre show. The outcome? Of course, the Eagles were roasted by 3-1.

This should serve as a lesson to Bendel folks. Afterall, what have the Petro Sport got which the Bendelites haven’t? If the Gabonese club-side can boast of petrol, the Bendelites too are from an oil-rich area of Nigeria.

On a more serious note, I will like to stress that the Bendel boys should fight to prove their critics wrong by qualifying for the next round and this could be achieved through a draw at least.

(Culled from Saturday Commentary, first published on March 17, 1979).