(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Gyan who scored two goals and had one assist including a thrilling 2-2 draw against eventual champions Germany in the World Cup in Brazil sealed Al Ains first win over Al Ittihad in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League.
He may be the leading scorer in this edition of the AFC Champions League with 11 goals with the latest coming from a brilliant assist from star playmaker Omar Abdulrahman but Asamoah Gyan said that Al Ain are not a one-man or two-man show but a collective effort.
Gyan who scored two goals and had one assist including a thrilling 2-2 draw against eventual champions Germany in the World Cup in Brazil sealed Al Ain’s first win over Al Ittihad in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League.
After Ismail Ahmed had put ‘The Boss’ ahead on 47 minutes Omar Abdulrahman conjured a clever chip which Gyan latched on to and controlled it before volleying it into the net. The duo tangoed well in UAE’s domestic competitions as well on the Asian front. But Gyan said that it was a team effort.
“It is not a one-man or two-man team. It is an all-round effort. As a team all the players understand each other and everybody does what is expected of them. My job is to score and the other’s job is to give a good pass. And so we do that” Gyan said after the game at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday night.
Gyan was also pleased with his form despite a break following his World Cup engagements. “I am really happy with my performance. I am still scoring and that is the most important for a striker” he said.
And the Ghanian captain termed the 2-0 win over Al Ittihad as a good result considering that the Saudi club were already two games into their domestic league. “It is a good result because going into the game we knew that they were better than us because they played two official games in their league and they won. So their confidence level was higher than us” said Gyan.
“We had played friendly games and we had not to put in as much effort as them in our matches. But tonight we were more composed and we kept our composure throughout the match. We also had to be disciplined and had to play a tactical game as it was a very intense game. I am really happy that the fans are happy with our performance” he added.
Al Ain have had a change in foreign personnel with Australian Alex Brosque being replaced by Lee-Myung-Joo while Slovakian Miroslav Stoch have come in for Romanian Mirel Radoi. South Korean Lee joined from Pohang Steelers while Stoch is on loan from Fenerbahce. And Gyan felt that the new players had adapted quickly and added that there was more to come from them.
“The new players did well. They adapted very quickly. They are not 100 percent just yet. They need a bit more time to adapt well. They are good players and the rest of the team is supporting them every time. They are new the team and it is difficult to go to a new country and adapt. So what matters is we as players we must just support them and make sure they do the right thing going forward” felt Gyan.
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