Position: Striker
Current Club: El Gaish SC (Egypt) on loan from Bayelsa United (Nigeria)
DOB: 15 June 2003
Birthplace: Yenagoa, Nigeria
Height: 185 cm (6’0)

*Statistics are limited to CAF competition. No domestic league statistics available

Victory Beniangba is a rising striker who continues to show promise as a pure goal scorer while developing the traits necessary to improve as a target man or #9 up top. Beniangba arrived at Egyptian Premier League club El Gaish on loan in January and immediately proved himself as a player to watch for a team whose defensive mentality makes them in the bottom three of the league in goals scored. Since the 19-year-old became El Gaish’s primary option up top the team have only lost one match, which came almost five months ago at the beginning of February.

Beniangba is a poacher who has excellent instincts in the penalty area at a young age, showing composure and the awareness to get away from defenders with darting runs that make him difficult to mark. Playing up top in a defensive formation is asking a lot but it has exposed the young striker to performing the industrial duties that are necessary to thrive in a #9 role. At this point Beniangba needs to continue to refine his ability to hold up the ball and contribution to his team’s attacking buildups but he is only getting better at a rapid rate.

+ Advanced composure and calmness in the penalty area on scoring opportunities; a clinical finisher in the making.

+ Darting runs and swift acceleration make him difficult to mark. Possesses a knack to escape defenders and is always looking to make runs off the back shoulder.

– Plenty of work to do with his contributions outside of the penalty area. Limited to a striker role up top and lacks the versatility to thrive in a wide role.
– Lacks vision on his passing. Limited exclusively to back passes and square passes and needs to become more precise with his short passing range.

+ Boasts the acceleration needed to escape defenders and take advantage when space opens up. Speed declines over longer distances.
◊ Promising strength, especially in his lower body for holding up the ball. However he needs to continue upper body strength development to win more headers and compete with center backs.
◊ Adequate vertical when jumping for 50-50 headers. Aerial ability continues to develop.

+ Capable to good finisher at a young age. Has the ability to finish with either foot as well as his head.

◊ Continues to show promising signs when attempting to act as a target striker. Gaining experience at winning difficult headers and is becoming more accurate with his flick-ons and lay offs.

– Very poor passer with much development ahead of him. Hardly involved in team buildup and limited to short passes without the ability to cross or make accurate forward passes .

+ Has all the instincts and tools to thrive as a pure striker at a higher level. Elusive and slippery to escape markers and very composed in the penalty area on scoring opportunities.

– Keeps things as simple as possible. Won’t get caught taking unnecessary risks or trying to be flamboyant.

+ Makes intelligent runs to stretch defensive lines and provide a passing option for team’s playmakers.

– Lacks any sort of positional versatility. Mostly useless on the wing at this point and only thrives as a striker up top or perhaps in a two-forward system.

– Needs to find ways to contribute more to his team’s attacking buildup. Knows his limitations by playing only square ball and lay offs but needs to be more efficient even at the simpler passes.

Rankings are from the 2021-22 Egyptian Premier League out of forty center forwards who have played 800 minutes or more:

Above are statistics related to Victory’s production as a goal scorer and are a direct endorsement of how advanced he is as a striker at a young age. Chances are few and far between with El Gaish but the team’s recent success and revival of league form has come as a direct result of Beniangba’s ability to finish his opportunities at a high rate. His high rate of scoring in combination with a low xG rate are extraordinary in a league where reliable finishers can be difficult to find as summarized by his goal conversion rate and proficiency at testing goalkeepers with shots on target. While forwards on Egypt’s top teams often have at least three or four opportunities in a match, Victory is making the most out of matches where he may only get one good look at goal.

Now let us take a look at Victory’s statistics when in possession of the ball:

However, as a young player with very limited experience playing at a strong technical level, Victory’s current deficiencies do come out despite his success this season. With the exception of the amount of attacking duels he attempts per match, Victory ranks in the bottom half in just about every category when it comes to contributing in passing or attempting to make plays with the dribble. There is no ambition on the few passing attempts he makes and his mediocre completion rate comes despite the fact that his average passing length ranks at the bottom of the charts.

When examining his attacking duel success numbers, it is important to consider that Beniangba is often isolated with little support which provides more context to why his numbers are not particularly impressive. It still remains that there is much work ahead for Victory to become a threat when running at defenders with the ball or contributing more as a passer, traits he is gaining valuable experience at performing during his current loan stint.

At a promising age of 19-years-old and with a natural ability to score goals, Victory Beniangba is ready to take the next step outside African club football after proving himself in one of if not the continent’s best leagues. The loan to El Gaish is turning out to be the best possible move at this stage of Victory’s development and the only thing preventing him from moving to European or American football is if El Gaish triggers the reported buy option in his loan. Another season in Egypt may be the best thing for Beniangba to further develop his ability on the ball but he is clearly a player worth investing in for the future and worth spending a transfer fee on due to his advanced talent at scoring and converting opportunities.