No place for the Prince
Prince Tagoe was one of the most advertised names for hosts Chattogram Abahani ahead of the third edition of the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup.
The port city outfit, in their pre-tournament campaigns, had said that they were building a strong squad to regain the title, with the Ghanaian member from the 2010 World Cup their to-be star forward.
But the former Hoffenheim star is yet to take the field, with Chattogram Abahani having already played three group matches. And it has not been in an attempt to rest his precious legs, rather to not endanger the chances of the home side. Tagoe has not even found a place as a substitute even when the team rested six starters in their last group match.
The 32-year-old striker was a genuinely a good striker in his days, playing for arguably the best Ghana team of all time during the 2010 World Cup. He played in all the three group stage matches, but did not get a place in the round of 16 match against USA and the quarterfinal against Uruguay which they lost on penalties in heartbreaking fashion. In his 35-match career for the Black Stars, Tagoe scored five goals and was affectionately called Prince of Goals by many back in his homeland.
But those days are long gone as the then Hoffenheim striker moved from a few lesser teams of Europe, Africa and Asia before being almost out of the game for the past four years. Tagoe joined a Turkish lower-tier club last season, but did not get to play a game for them before being poached by Chattogram Abahani for this tournament.
But on seeing him at the ground, Chattogram Abahani coach Maruful Haque realised it was a bad decision taken by the club.
“He is not really fit to start matches,” the coach said ahead of one of the games. When asked whether there was any possibility of him getting some gametime, Maruful said he was not sure of it.
It has been learnt that the decision to hire Tagoe was taken by one of their influential officials, which has divided opinion among the players and officials. One of the players, on condition of anonymity, said: “Any local African player, playing on hire, could have been a better option than him. Due to him, we lost a valuable foreign player quota.”
Even if Chattogram Abahani make it to the final, it seems like Tagoe may not find a place in the eleven. The only way he can bring value to the team is sharing his big-match experience from the World Cup.