Prince Tagoe

Early years

Born in Accra, Ghana. Tagoe started out at local club Tudu Mighty Jets. He made his senior debuts with Midtjylland-Maamobi in the lower national league. He later joined Accra Hearts of Oak in 2004 and went on loan to Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia before joining Al Shabab in UAE.

Hearts of Oak

Tagoe joined Hearts of Oak on a one-year loan deal from Midtjylland-Maamobi. It was during his time at the Accra-based team that his prominence grew both at the national and continental level. He struck a hat-trick in Hearts of Oak's 5–1 demolition of Cameroon side Sable de Batie in the maiden CAF Confederation Cup in 2004, which helped to push the club to the top their group, qualify and set up an all Ghanaian final against their fierce rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko. In the final, he played in both legs as Hearts defeated their archrivals during a marathon 8–9 penalty shoot-out to win after the two legs ended 2–2 on aggregate. While playing on loan for Hearts of Oak, Tagoe became the Ghana Premier League top scorer with 18 goals in 2005 at the age of 19.

Saudi Arabia and UAE

In January 2006, Tagoe was close to sign for German club Mainz 05, but the transfer failed. He eventually moved to Saudi Arabian side Ittihad. In September 2007, he scored a brace in a 5–1 victory over Al Qadsiah. After six months, Tagoe moved to another Middle East country, this time to United Arab Emirates and signed for Al Shabab. This prompted Midtjylland-Maamobi to report…

Youth

Tagoe played for the Ghana under-20 team between 2005 and 2006 along with future internationals, Anthony Annan and Harrison Afful. In 2005, he played in the WAFU Zone B tournament and scored 3 goals to helped Ghana clinch the title ahead of the ECOWAS 30th Anniversary tournament. He was adjudged Most Valuable Player and top scorer at the end of the tournament. Between 2007 and 2008, He also played for the Ghana Olympics team, the Black Meteors. He formed a striking partnership with future Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan with duo scoring on several occasions. The duo scored three goals each during the 2008 Olympics qualifiers but failed to win their final match against Nigeria which ended in a goalless draw. Subsequently, qualified Nigeria to the 2008 Summer Olympics as group A winners after they won their final match against South Africa.

Senior

After making his full international debut for Ghana in a friendly against Togo, Tagoe was named in the final 23-man squad for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations by Ratomir Dujković. He only played a total of 49 minutes (appearing in two games), as the team exited the tournament at the group stage. Tagoe was selected by Milovan Rajevac as part of the final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He played in all three group matches, as a starter, but did not feature during the knockout stage, where Ghana was eliminated by Uruguay in the quarter-finals.

Tagoe played primarily as a forward. In 2006, prior to the 2006 African Cup of Nations, Ghana coach Ratomir Dujković stated that "He is a promising player and I think he will be one of Africa's best players in the near future,". With a height of over six feet, Tagoe could be played a target man with good aerial controls and heading ability. He boosts of having speed and an outstanding vision along with an eye for goal and clinical finishing which contributed to him scoring 18 goals in the 2004-05 Ghana Premier League. These qualities and his goal-scoring prowess earned him the nickname the ''Prince of goals''. In 2006, FIFA.com, also made reference to him being seen as the ''Prince of Darkness'' to his defenders and markers who he could outrun and punish by scoring goals due to his lanky physique and speed. Due to his speed he was mostly played as a right winger by Milovan Rajevac during the 2010 FIFA World Cup . He later on revealed that he struggled in that role and referred if he had been a backup striker to Asamoah Gyan or played in a two top striker formation along with Gyan as the duo did whilst playing for the Black Meteors, the Ghana under-23 team.

Club

International

Ghana score listed first; score column indicates score after each Tagoe goal.