Yakubu On Miss Of The Decade At World Cup; Picks Ex-Everton Striker As Footballing Role Model

Published: April 18, 2020

Super Eagles hero Yakubu Aiyegbeni has admitted that missing an open goal in a World Cup clash against South Korea ten years ago was the weirdest moment of his career.

Despite losing their first two matches to Argentina and Greece, Nigeria could have advanced to the round of sixteen if Yakubu had converted his gilt-edged chance in the 66th minute as both teams eventually settled for a 2-2 draw.

The former Everton striker revealed that some Nigerian fans have not forgiven him for that miss and he's being insulted daily.

On the weirdest moment of his career, Yakubu told South African journalist Carol Tshabalala via Instagram : "Missing one of the chances of the decade of the World Cup in South Africa 2010, I still get messages everyday about it, sometimes some of them are being nice, sometimes some of them are being rude.

"I just ignore them, some of them are looking for attention. In football you miss chances, they are thinking about the miss, they are not thinking of the joy you bring to people's lives when you play.

"You miss chances in your clubsides and you still play the next game and people forget about it, but going back home you miss chances and people still think about it."

When asked to name his footballing role model growing up, he went for former Everton striker Daniel Amokachi.

"Growing up watching Amokachi was something nice, I call him sexy big brother. He's a nice guy. He was the assistant manager of the national team as well when I was in the national team, so it was an honour to be with him in the same team, we didn't play together there, we were very close.

"Watching him on TV, the way he bullied the defenders, the way he scores goals, you can see the smile on his face and the dedication is there.

"Watching him, Kanu and Jay-Jay is unbelievable," added Yakubu.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : golisports.com

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