Tagliabue: "Al Ettifaq, Al Shabab always in my heart"

Carving his early career in his ancestral home Argentina and then at other South American outposts, it was in Saudi Arabia that Sebastian Tagliabue really rose to prominence, establishing himself as a fan favourite at not one, but two Roshn Saudi League powerhouses, Al Ettifaq and Al Shabab, the duo who lock horns in their opening RSL fixture in Riyadh on Saturday night.

Born in the Buenos Aires province, the then 25-year-old striker took a major leap in 2010, when while at Colombia’s Once Caldas, he accepted an offer to join Al Ettifaq in the distant Roshn Saudi League.

Almost 15 years later, Tagliabue remains in the region, residing today as an RSL luminary and a 19-time UAE international having been naturalised in 2020. His stay in Saudi might have lasted only three seasons, but without it, the fearsome forward would not have made the sort of life he enjoys in Abu Dhabi now, with his wife and two sons.

With his two former RSL clubs, Al Ettifaq and Al Shabab, to meet on Saturday to close out Matchweek 1 of the 2024-25 campaign, Tagliabue casts the mind back to his stint in the Kingdom, equally as laden with goals as it was life-changing.

“About Al Shabab and Al Ettifaq, I’m thankful for both of them because Al Ettifaq opened the door for me to come to this amazing area in the world,” Tagliabue tells the RSL. “I never expected to come here, and Al Ettifaq gave me the chance, not only one year, but two years, to show my true self.”

Indeed, he did just that. In his debut season, Tagliabue struck 12 times in the RSL for the Dammam club, playing a pivotal role in his team’s superb third-placed finish. With it, Al Ettifaq secured a place in the AFC Champions League play-offs for the following campaign.

Domestically, Tagliabue was only getting started. He would plunder another nine league goals in the 2011-12 RSL season as Al Ettifaq finished fourth, while he scored in every round leading up to the final of that year’s Crown Prince Cup, including an injury-time winner in the last four against Al Ahli.

If the showpiece didn’t go how Tagliabue wanted – despite the 2-1 defeat by Al Hilal in Riyadh, he says still: “I have very good memories of Al Ettifaq” – his personal trajectory was very much trending in the right direction.

In fact, the direction was west, as Tagliabue traded Dammam for Riyadh, and Al Ettifaq for capital club Al Shabab. The switch paid off: with 19 goals, the frontman concluded the 2012-13 RSL campaign as the division’s top scorer. The haul fired Al Shabab’s unlikely title push before they had to eventually settle for third, level on points with runners-up Al Hilal (Al Fateh were that season’s shock champions).

Tagliabue, though, remembers the period fondly.

“Al Shabab gave me the chance to for the first time be top scorer internationally,” he says. “I was top scorer in Argentina, but with Al Shabab, I did the same internationally for the first time.

“It was even an amazing year because I played with incredible players; we had a very good team. In my opinion, we could have been league champions, but we missed winning two games in the important moment against teams we should beat, and then we lost the title.”

Collective silverware would ultimately prove elusive, Al Shabab beaten 4-2 by Al Ittihad in the King’s Cup final.

Not bowed by the disappointment, Tagliabue would soon depart for the UAE, joining Al Wahda in the summer of 2013 having notched 40 goals in 69 RSL appearances. He went on to win lift a succession of trophies there, was twice the UAE Pro League’s top scorer and sits now as the club’s all-time leading scorer.

Actually, only Ali Mabkhout has netted more times in the history of the UAE top tier - Tagliabue has also represented Al Nasr and Sharjah - while four years ago they became international teammates; he was granted Emirati citizenship at the beginning of 2020.

At 39, Tagliabue continues to play professionally. And, looking at everything he has achieved, he realises the RSL left as indelible a mark on him as he did during those three prolific years in the Kingdom.

“Both Al Ettifaq and Al Shabab were amazing clubs,” Tagliabue says. “I always have with them in my heart, and I always look to see how they are in the league, how they are going, the players that are playing at this moment.

“Yes, they stay in my heart. Always.”