DUBAI // When Prince Tagoe arrived at Al Shabab in 2006 from Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad, he came with an impressive CV. However, he failed to find his scoring boots at the Al Maktoum Stadium with just 10 goals that season. Still, Shabab must be wishing they had not allowed the young Ghanaian to leave for Ettifaq, for he has almost single-handedly wrecked their dreams of making the Champions League knockout stages, scoring five goals in two games against his former club.
Tagoe, who had struck twice in Ettifaq's crushing 4-1 win over Shabab at home two weeks ago, went one better on Tuesday night, scoring a hat-trick to script another 4-1 victory for the Saudi Arabian side. Shabab's loss has been Ettifaq's gain and their Romanian coach Ioan Andonie said: "I'm happy he is playing for us and not against us. He is a very good player." Tagoe struck the equaliser for Ettifaq in the 30th minute after Marcos Assuncao had put the hosts ahead in the 15th minute, booting home a rebound after the Saudi goalkeeper Hussain Shaian had saved his penalty kick.
The Ghanaian then scored two identical goals in the 54th and 84th minutes, flicking home Saleh Bashar's crosses from the right, and substitute Abdulrahman al Qahtani completed the rout in the fourth minute of added time. "In two games, Prince scored five goals against us," said Shabab coach Toninho Cerezo. "This shows they are a very strong side in attack. "Their forwards are very fast and technical players, and they made the difference in the two games. They were able to create chances and score goals; they decided the fate of the game.
"We were expecting the team to perform better, but after the second goal I believe the team started thinking their mission of victory was beyond them." Shabab have gained just three points from four matches and even victories in the two remaining games are unlikely to be enough to progress past the group stage. They are four points off second-placed Bunyodkor, the Uzbeks who beat Iran's Sepahan 1-0 away.
Ettifaq are now top of the group with nine points and almost assured of qualification. Andonie, however, insists their mission has not been accomplished yet. "One foot in the second round is not good enough," said the Romanian. "We want to win the next game and make sure we reach the knock-out stages." Cerezo admits he has an impossible task now, but defended his team in the face of harsh criticism.
"The players tried their best," said the Brazilian. "Sometimes you come up against players or a team, who can do the job better than you. These are the players we have and they are fighting for the club's honour. They are trying their best and we have to congratulate and support them, whether we win, lose or draw." arizvi@thenational.ae
