DUBAI // In his 10 years playing for Juventus, or even at Hercules in the Spanish city of Alicante last season, David Trezeguet will probably never have come across stands as barren as the ones he witnessed at Al Shabab on his debut in UAE football on Thursday night.
Aside from the Baniyas supporters, who could have numbered one hundred, there were few spectators for the Etisalat Cup game.
In his heydays, the imposing Frenchman would have drawn more at the turnstiles for a training or autograph session.
Those glory days, though, seem far behind the World Cup winner. He looked a shadow of the man who is the highest scoring non-Italian in Juve's history.
Perhaps, it was just first-day blues and he might still blaze through the goal-scoring charts in the coming months alongside Andre Senghor, last season's top scorer. The humid, stifling weather does take some getting used to as well.
Whatever the case, Trezeguet had little impact on the game as Shabab recovered from a goal down to win 4-1. Both teams finished the game with a man short. Shabab's Abdullah Darwish got his marching orders in the 74th minute for a second booking and seven minutes later, Baniyas' Thamer Mohammed followed him to the changing room.
Nawaf Mubarak, who switched from Sharjah during the summer, opened the scoring, but Julio Cesar and Azizbek Hydarov scored twice apiece for the hosts to make it a night to forget for Trezeguet.
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