FIFA legend Yakubu Ayegbeni reflects on his illustrious career, expressing no remorse for representing Nigeria despite enduring relentless bullying over a missed goal during the 2010 World Cup.
The 41-year-old striker’s journey with the Super Eagles began at the tender age of 17. Making his debut in April 2000 against Eritrea, he quickly established himself as a prolific goal-scorer.
Over the next decade, Yakubu’s contributions were instrumental in Nigeria’s success, including securing a bronze medal at the 2002 AFCON.
However, the 2010 World Cup match against South Korea greatly shaded his career. A missed goal in that match became a defining moment in Nigerian football history, often overshadowing his numerous achievements.
Despite the negative attention, Yakubu Ayegbeni remains proud of his international career. He considers it a privilege to have represented Nigeria at the highest level, participating in the AFCON, World Cup, and Olympics. Yet, he laments that his positive contributions are frequently overlooked, overshadowed by the infamous missed goal.
“Me, regret playing for Nigeria? No chance. It is an honour for me playing for Nigeria, every player wants to play for his country. I was born in Nigeria, grew up in Benin, Edo state Nigeria. It is an honour to wear Nigeria’s green and white jersey of Nigeria,” Yakubu told Flashscore in a no-holds-barred interview.
“Being at the World Cup in South Africa is (another) great (opportunity) representing my country. We should all forget the miss and remember the good ones. It is funny when people still talk about it – it is almost 14 years already – and people still talk about the miss and not the good ones.
EXCLUSIVE: Yakubu tells he has no regrets playing for Nigeria 🇳🇬 and coping with infamous World Cup miss. 📌 pic.twitter.com/kd3UEwJCAa
“They did (not talk) about when I qualified Nigeria for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan but was dropped; they never spoke about that. I still had the courage to take the penalty after 10 minutes and people still send me message about it missing that goal.
“I don’t think we would still win the 2010 World Cup. We have been to other World Cups plus the ones we did not qualify for but people never talked about it.
“We all watch Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, they all miss chances, but people still talk about my own miss – I think people just love me for that.”
Lars Lagerback’s Super Eagles faced a daunting task at the 2010 World Cup, having suffered defeats to Argentina and Greece. A victory against South Korea was imperative to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive.
Nigeria made a promising start at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, with Kalu Uche netting an early goal. However, South Korea fought back, taking the lead with two goals.
Yakubu Ayegbeni, renowned for his spectacular goals, had a golden opportunity to equalize but missed from close range, a moment that became a defining point in the match.
Despite the missed chance, Yakubu redeemed himself with a penalty goal later in the game. However, Nigeria ultimately failed to secure a win and exited the tournament at the bottom of Group B.
Yakubu continues to endure bullying over the missed goal but refuses to apologize. He believes football is a game of highs and lows, where even the greatest players can make mistakes.
“They always try to bring it back and say ‘How I wish you scored, we should have been to the next stage’. Are you sure we could have still won the World Cup?
“Regret missing that chance? Of course, as a football player but we move on from that. I keep getting messages upon messages like ‘we will never forgive you’, ‘we will not forget about the miss’.
“It is good they will never forget about the miss; it is one of the bad misses of the World Cup even me, I will never forget about it, it is part of football.
“They said I was smiling, yes, I was smiling but inside me, do you know how I feel? Do you think you are happy about missing chances? Ronaldo, Messi, (Daniel) Amokachi, Jay Jay (Okocha), (Nwankwo) Kanu and other great players also miss chances but we all move on.”
The former Portsmouth star continued when asked how his girls respond to the hurtful remarks made about him: “They don’t even care about it. They say ‘how come they never moved on?'”
Interestingly, Yakubu Ayegbeni’s legacy extends beyond his own playing career. His daughter, Katriel, is following in his footsteps, pursuing a professional netball career and aiming for a spot on the English national team.
Yakubu Ayegbeni made history in 2002 when he became the first African to score a hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League. This accomplishment, achieved while playing for Maccabi Haifa against Olympiacos, solidified his status as a football legend. To this day, he remains the only Nigerian to have achieved such a feat.
Did you know that Yakubu Ayegbeni is the first African and the only Nigerian to score a hat-trick in the Champions League? Show some respect for that achievement biko! #UCL ⚽️⚽️⚽️💕🫡 pic.twitter.com/8A2mATMx0F
“To apologise to Nigerians? Never! I will never. They should focus on the situation in the country and stop talking about my chance. No one ever talked about the World Cup I was never taken to; they talk only about the bad ones – that is Nigerians for you,” he continued.
“They don’t talk about the good things you’ve done for the country, sacrificing one’s life for the country. You travel to where there is war to play for your country.
“We did not qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup). Did they speak about it? No. Let’s move on and think about the present and not the past. It is not arrogance, but people have to understand the fact that have to understand.
“I know I have served Nigeria and I am happy to wear the (green and white jersey). Ten years playing for Nigeria is great.”
Yakubu Ayegbeni’s career extended beyond his playing days. Following his departure from Coventry City in 2017, he transitioned into a new role as a FIFA legend and football ambassador, dedicated to developing the future of the sport.
Beyond his football-related endeavours, Yakubu has also established a successful business empire. He is the owner of a chain of businesses. He is the CEO of Yak Sports Academy, a renowned institution that has produced talented players for European teams.
Liverpool widened their lead in the Premier League to an impressive 11 points over defending champions Manchester City with a commanding 2-0 victory at Anfield.
This result extended City’s winless streak to seven matches across all competitions, marking the worst run of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career.
Guardiola responded to City’s recent struggles by benching regular goalkeeper Ederson in favour of Stefan Ortega.
However, Ortega faced relentless pressure from the start as Liverpool launched a series of aggressive attacks.
Dominik Szoboszlai tested the goalkeeper twice early on and then set up Virgil van Dijk, whose powerful header struck the post.
The opening goal seemed inevitable, and Anfield didn’t have to wait long for a moment of brilliance from Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian delivered a pinpoint cross that found Cody Gakpo at the back post, who bundled the ball into the net, sending the Kop into raptures.
City’s strategy of playing out from the back continued to cause them problems even after conceding. Van Dijk missed another opportunity with a header, and Gakpo fired over the bar as Liverpool maintained control.
Although City managed to reduce the flow of Liverpool’s attacks, they struggled to create any meaningful chances.
Their first shot didn’t arrive until the 39th minute when Rico Lewis’s tame effort missed the target. This encapsulated a miserable first half for the champions.
The statistics told the story…
It was the longest City had gone without a shot in a Premier League match since April 2010. Although they looked slightly more threatening after the break, Liverpool remained dominant.
Gakpo had another shot blocked by Matheus Nunes, and Van Dijk headed another chance over the bar.
Salah then intercepted a loose pass from Bernardo Silva, racing through on goal only to lift his shot over the bar, missing a golden opportunity to double Liverpool’s lead.
Despite their dominance, Liverpool still needed a second goal to seal the win against Manchester City. That decisive moment came 12 minutes from time. Ruben Dias lost possession, allowing Luis Diaz to sprint through on goal.
Ortega brought Diaz down, conceding a penalty. Salah confidently stepped up and converted the spot-kick, redeeming himself after a midweek miss against Real Madrid. This goal marked his 13th direct contribution in his last 11 starts against City.
With this victory, Arne Slot’s Liverpool side solidified their dominance at Anfield this season, having already beaten the champions of England, Spain, and Germany.
They now sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table, leaving Arsenal trailing behind.
Meanwhile, Manchester City finds itself in unfamiliar territory. This defeat marks their fourth consecutive league loss, a streak they haven’t endured since August 2008.
The defending champions now sit outside the top four, facing mounting pressure and searching for answers as their title defence falters.
Liverpool’s performance underscored their credentials as genuine title contenders, with clinical finishing, defensive solidity, and moments of individual brilliance.
In contrast, City must regroup quickly to halt their downward spiral and reignite their season.
Kylian Mbappé, the 25-year-old French striker, delivered another lacklustre performance for Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
In their 2-0 Champions League defeat at Anfield, Mbappé struggled to impact the game, failing to pose a significant threat to Liverpool’s defence and missing a crucial penalty.
Since his high-profile transfer from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid in June, Mbappé has endured a difficult start to life in Spain.
He has managed to score only one goal in five Champions League appearances for the Spanish club.
Despite his recent form, which includes just one goal in his last six games across all competitions, manager Carlo Ancelotti remains steadfast in his support for Mbappé.
Ancelotti views the World Cup-winning forward as an “extraordinary” player who simply requires patience and support to fully adapt and excel in the Spanish league.
“It’s a difficult moment for him, we’ve got to support him and give him our love, he’ll soon be fine,” Ancelotti said.
“It could be a lack of confidence maybe. Sometimes you have moments when things aren’t quite working out for you. But you get through these moments. People miss penalties, it happens a lot. You can’t put too much grief on him for that.
“He works hard, he’s got to keep working hard and fighting. You get through these moments. Things just aren’t running for him at the moment. We’ve got be patient. He’s an extraordinary player.”
Ancelotti acknowledged Liverpool’s superior performance, stating that they deserved to win the match.
“I think that to be totally honest with you, it was a fair result,” he said. “They have a really good dynamic at the moment, they are switched on, they play with a high intensity.”
Liverpool are the first team to confirm their place in the round of 16 or knockout phase play-offs ⚽#UCLpic.twitter.com/ebUtmFxFeW
Ancelotti expressed confidence that Real Madrid’s form would improve significantly, despite their current position of 24th out of 36 teams in the league and the looming threat of missing the knockout phase.
“I think this game today wasn’t a decisive game,” he said. “We’ll be there, we’ll be competing in the knockout phase, like in previous years.”
Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham concurred with his manager’s assessment, stating that Liverpool had outperformed them in the match.
“They were more up for it than us which is very disappointing. It is a bad result against the best-performing team in Europe,” he said.
“We are disappointed at how we have performed and it is important that we win the next three games and give ourselves a chance to go through.”
Bellingham also voiced his support for Kylian Mbappé.
“He is a wonderful player but the pressure on him because of how good he is is huge. The penalty is not why we lost the game. They performed better than us. I know that he will produce many more moments that will be huge for this club,” he said.
David Coote, a Premier League referee currently suspended, is the subject of an ongoing betting investigation by the Football Association (FA).
The investigation stems from allegations that Coote discussed giving a yellow card before a match.
According to messages from The Sun, a friend of Coote’s allegedly urged him to issue a yellow card to Ezgjan Alioski. Alisoki is a then-Leeds defender, during a Championship match against West Brom in October 2019.
Coote followed through on this advice, booking Alioski in the 18th minute for a cynical foul. Subsequently, he messaged his friend back, stating, “I hope you backed as discussed.”
Coote recently spoke to The Sun, admitting that the conversation with his friend did indeed take place. However, he insists it was merely “banter” and denies any intentional wrongdoing.
Despite the claims, the Football Association is investigating David Coote on the matter.
A spokesperson from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the refereeing body, told Sky Sports… “These are very serious allegations and we are investigating as a matter of urgency.”
“The facts need to be established in light of these very serious allegations.
“We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our integrity code of conduct, which is signed by all match officials on an annual basis.
“PGMOL board is committed to taking the appropriate action should any breach of that code be proven.
“David Coote remains suspended and subject to an ongoing disciplinary process by PGMOL, separate to the investigation into this matter, which will be carried out independently by the FA.
“We will be making no further comment at this stage.”
The FA have launched a betting probe into allegations that referee David Coote discussed giving a yellow card to a Leeds United player with a friend before a match.
Coote carded Leeds player Ezgjan Alioski in the match against West Brom in October 2019. pic.twitter.com/ZS3PaK2p6V
Recent scandals have further tarnished Coote’s reputation. Foul-mouthed videos surfaced of him ranting against Liverpool and their former manager, Jurgen Klopp.
In these videos, he used derogatory language, calling Klopp a “c***” and “f****** arrogant”. As a result of this offensive behaviour, PGMOL suspended him on November 11th.
Days later, another video emerged, this time showing Coote seemingly snorting white powder in a hotel during the European Championship in Germany, where he was officiating.
This clip is believed to have been filmed on July 6th, just a day before the France-Portugal quarter-final. In response to this incident, UEFA, European football’s governing body, also suspended Coote, aligning with PGMOL’s decision.