oke figure Yakubu still has the last laugh
The mention of Yakubu Aiyegbeni within any context in a Nigerian conversation invariably elicits a roll of the eyes and a snide comment. A lot of the time, this is not unconnected to that incident at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
In hindsight, it is immeasurably harsh that that miss from inside four yards was the interment of his international career. A few months shy of his 28th birthday, he inexplicably contrived to divert a Yusuf Ayila square-pass inches wide of the Korean goal in the 66th minute, with the scoreline at 1-2.
However, one wonders why that moment alone should so colour the perception of an entire nation about ‘The Yak’. He had been with the national team for eight years up until that point, and by the time he stroked home a penalty a couple of minutes after that infamous miss, he cemented his place as the Nigeria national team’s third-highest scorer ever, behind only Rashidi Yekini and Segun Odegbami—both in the top five of Nigeria’s greatest-ever footballers.
While the first two are revered, Yakubu remains a figure of derision, an emblem of the improbable miss, the butt of cruel jokes, and something of a footnote in the country’s footballing history.
It is ironic when you think about it: that was the sort of opportunity that was his bread and butter over a nine-year English Premier League career. His goals-reel is littered with instances of tremendous calm finishes, and his prowess from the penalty spot was almost insulting—the jerky run-up, followed by an insouciant roll of the ball sending the keeper the wrong way. To then miss in that fashion in green and white seemed an abdication.
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