Former Nigeria international striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni says his international career shouldn’t be remembered for the goal he missed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa against South Korea, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Yakubu made his international bow as a 17 year old and went on to become the 4th all time highest goal scorer in the history of Nigerian football, only behind Rashidi Yekini , Segun Odegbami and Victor Osimhen.
Despite his healthy goal tally which he achieved in just 58 games, he is fondly remembered for the chance he missed in the 2-2 draw against South Korea at the 2010 World Cup that played a huge role in Nigeria’s exit from the tournament.
Despite scoring in the game, Yakubu said many people only remember him for that miss 14 year after and he kept getting reminded of the miss, rather than the beautiful memories he had with the team during his playing days, but he said he has no regret playing for the Super Eagles.
“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.
“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.”
