PROFILE: Augustine blazes path to unlikely success

Five minutes into Ankaragucu's win away to Besiktas earlier this month, Augustine Ahinful latched onto a through-ball from Adem Dursun.

Spotting goalkeeper Thomas Myhre off his line, he flighted a shot over him and into the net from 35 yards out. Myhre was heavily criticised afterwards but the Norwegian denied that he had been wrongly positioned.

"Augustine took it superbly," he said. "I've never conceded such a goal. In that kind of position, I'd let in one in a hundred."

Just another tribute to the man the whole of Turkish soccer is talking about.

It has been a long journey from Accra to Ankara for Augustine, as he prefers to be known. He first came to attention with his hometown club Goldfields SC and, as an 18-year-old, was leading scorer in the Ghanaian league for the 1992-93 season.

But he did not stay long in Ghana. Europe called and Augustine had spells in Switzerland with Kriens and Grasshoppers.

Then came Portugal and a period with Uniao Leiria where he scored six first division goals in 1998-99 before briefly moving on to Boavista, replacing fellow-countryman Kwame Ayew after Ayew's move to Sporting.

Boavista proved to be a short-lived adventure. Augustine was soon off to Italy and a Serie A break with Venezia. He was a regular first-teamer in Venice until, in January 2001, he was persuaded to move to Ankara on the recommendation of yet another Ghanaian, Ankaragucu captain Ohene Kennedy.

Augustine's history in Europe is one of a man who has done a solid, workmanlike job without ever capturing much of the limelight.

However, whether it was the presence of Kennedy that made the difference or not, something in the air in Ankara agreed with him immediately.

Although Ankaragucu were out of contention for honours by the time he arrived last season, his speed and skill immediately established him as a man opponents had to watch.

The goal that so infuriated Myhre was his 16th in the Super League this season. Following another against Trabzonspor at the weekend, he is now Turkey's leading scorer to date along with Ilhan Masiz of Besiktas – and also the highest-scoring Ghanaian in any European league.

If Augustine likes the Turkish air, he is not the only one. Four of Ghana's top five scorers abroad are in Turkey. Kennedy is one, Ayew, now with Kocaelispor, another. The quartet is completed by Rizespor's Emmanuel Tetteh.

A shame for Ghana, then, that none of these men went with the young and inexperienced national side which took part in this year's African Nations Cup. But Augustine had other priorities and Ankaragucu are reaping the reward.

Astonishingly, Augustine has been making headlines with his goals when he does not regard himself as a striker, even though that is how he is usually listed. "My job is to lie up just behind the forwards," he said during Turkey's winter break.

"This is the Turkish league and the goal king should be a Turk. My favourite is Besiktas's Ilhan Mansiz."

That does not stop him from going for goal whenever he sees an opening and this quality of opportunism is one which appeals to Ankaragucu manager Ersun Yanal, a man committed to open, attacking football even if it costs points from time to time.

When Fenerbahce sacked Mustafa Denizli in December, he was the first choice to take over. One of his conditions was that Augustine should move to Istanbul with him.

The move stalled because Fener could not agree compensation terms for the unexpired portion of Yanal's contract with Ankaragucu chairman Cemal Aydin, but if Augustine goes on banging in the goals, the big clubs will be queuing up with open cheque books at the end of the season. And not necessarily only Turkey's big clubs.

Yanal's aim at the beginning of the season was a Uefa Cup place. He has recently revised that upwards. Although the manager admits that his team have not been at their best during the second half of the season, he points to the fact that they have developed the useful knack of winning even when off the boil.

The record since the winter break is six wins and one defeat. "If we go on like this, the Champions' League is not a dream," Yanal says.

Ankaragucu are in fourth place in the table, four points behind Fenerbahce and eight adrift of leaders Galatasaray.

With ten rounds of matches still to go, those gaps are far from daunting ones. Yanal's merry men have already beaten all three of the teams above them and have the advantage of having to face only one more match against any of them. That comes in Istanbul against Galatasaray three weeks from the end of the season.

All this after the critics wrote off Ankaragucu as a flash in the pan. They won their first two games 8-1 in Antalya and 6-0 at home to Malatyaspor, leading to a gush of superlatives about their scoring ability.

But then a 4-1 defeat away to Fener began a run of seven games without a win and they plunged into the relegation zone.

Many a coach would have been given his cards, but Cemal Aydin shares Yanal's entertainment-first philosophy, kept the faith and is now reaping the rewards.

While Augustine's goals have been an important factor in the revival, it has also coincided with the replacement of Brazilian Roberto da Silva with Zafer Ozgultiken in goal.

Such has been Zafer's form that the club issued a press release following the Besiktas game pointing to him as the best goalkeeper in Turkey, along with Fener's Rustu Recber, and calling on national team manager Senol Gunes to take a long, hard look at him with his summer World Cup squad in mind.

Ankaragucu faced a key match last weekend when they hosted Trabzonspor at the capital's May 19 stadium.

Despite a poor season to date, Trabzon believe they can still make the Uefa Cup, having won their previous two matches and had nothing to lose and everything to gain in Ankara. Ankaragucu won 4-2 and Augustine scored again.

Victory made Ankaragucu only the second side, behind Malatyaspor, to have beaten each of the big four in one season. Suddenly it really is beginning to look as though the sky is the limit.

"It's a great shame that no team from outside the capital has ever won the Turkish championship," remarked Ersun Yanal ahead of the 2-1 Besiktas victory.

Can his blue-and-yellows become the first?

That remains to be seen, but whatever happens from here on in, Augustine Ahinful has earned the praise he is receiving. And while Thomas Myhre is relieved about not having to face him again, he will continue to give other goalkeepers a serious work-out in the weeks to come.