Asamoah Gyan basks in Al Ain’s title glory

Abu Dhabi: Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan was celebrating both individual and team success after he and his Al Ain teammates picked up their second successive Etisalat Pro-League crown on Friday.

Emulating his team’s repeat triumph, Gyan won the league’s top-scorer award for the second season after scoring 31 times in 22 matches. This was in spite of missing matches due to playing for Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year as well as being out with a thigh injury.

In his first season, when he came on loan from Sunderland in England, he scored 21 goals. And this year, Gyan also set a record as he scored in 15 successive league matches.

“I thank my colleagues for helping me score 31 goals,” Gyan said on Friday after scoring the 89th-minute penalty winner in a 2-1 win over Al Nasr after Jires Kembo-Ekoko equalised Bruno Cesar’s opener, which was Al Ain’s final match of the season.

“It is good to help your team win the league title and it is even better to win for the second season. All the team worked hard and deserved to end the season [as] champions.

“But we have not showed our best in the AFC Champions League and it will be our next objective next year. We have to work even harder and I am sure that this team can go a long way in the continental competition.”

Meanwhile Al Ain captain Hilal Saeed made history by becoming the only player in the UAE to win the professional league title three times in a row, one with Al Jazira and two with Al Ain.

He therefore became the country’s most decorated footballer with 23 titles with the two clubs and with the national team.

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, presented the medals and shields to the Al Ain’s two teams, the seniors and reserves, with Yousuf Al Sarkal, the Chairman of the UAE FA, and other senior sports officials attending the ceremonies.

Fireworks lit up the sky above the stadium and the players displayed the shields in an open-top bus parade that went through most of the city.

“It is good to win the title three times in a row,” Hilal, like the rest of the squad, was wearing a shirt with the number 11 which highlighted the number of league titles they have won, said.

“I thank my colleagues for their hard work and dedication. It was never an easy task and it was really more difficult this season than last season bearing in mind that we started the season losing 6-3 to Al Ahli.

“However, we came back and started winning matches with confidence and with the knowledge that we were qualified to win the title.”