Five years since that miss, the Yak cruelly remains a punching bag. However, considering his goal record, why is he not looked at more favourably?
Jul 27, 2015 07:04:20
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.
Yakubu | A career misrepresented by that one moment
That symbolises quite aptly some of the animus toward him; the impression he never tried hard enough or hit the heights for the Super Eagles. This belief - his thickset physique lent him an air of cumbersomeness that was somewhat misleading; he did possess reasonable pace, but only in bursts – was perpetuated by his decision to abstain from the 2006 Afcon in Egypt, preferring to continue with Middlesbrough. This was not unconnected with his unceremonious dismissal from the 2004 edition following friction with then-manager Christian Chukwu.
That incident led him to exile himself from the international scene. While Nigeria bumbled about in World Cup qualifying and underwhelmed at the Nations Cup, Yakubu flourished, helping Middlesbrough improbably to the final of the 2006 UEFA Cup as it was then called.
That period was peak-Yak, as he came into his own as a top-level forward, devastating Premier League defences in tandem with Mark Viduka. He guaranteed goals wherever he played in England: 96 in total in the Premier League spanning four clubs, but his marksmanship elicited no pride from his compatriots. A force of nature on English soil, but relentlessly bullied back at home.
A further criticism is that, when he did score, it was rarely in an important context. It is hard to associate Yakubu with any truly memorable moments in a national team shirt—he decorated (and even that very rarely) rather than decided contests. This is not altogether his fault though; it was simply a symptom of the fact the national team was never really built around him or to his strengths.
In 2004, he was kicked off the team, and following the Afcon, Obafemi Martins burst onto the scene. In 2006, he was a conscientious objector; in 2008, perhaps the only time he had the complete trust of the manager (Berti Vogts), he flourished and scored twice in Ghana, albeit in Nigeria’s worst finals performance in 22 years; in 2010, he still managed a goal and an assist in an abject team display.
His performances for the national team may not have done much to quell the naysayers, but one could reasonably excuse him for lack of service—he was, after all, a striker who thrived on balls in behind the defensive line to run onto. Sadly, his peak years coincided with a lack of a true no. 10 in the Super Eagles: Kanu was on the wane, and lost his best role as Nigeria moved toward a single-striker system.
It would be unscrupulous to absolve him of blame for the way the team played – he being a part of it – but one cannot deny that the mid-to-late 2000s was a period of fetid stagnation for the Super Eagles. He was hardly the worst of the lot, but by virtue of that miss, he crowned the decade with a most fitting diadem—a missed opportunity.
If anything, it illustrated just how damaging a single moment can be within a certain context. For a player with so little goodwill to begin with, Yakubu pretty much doused himself in gasoline for his witch-hunt pyre. However, his name remains an important part of our national team history; his scoring record is the perfect comeback to the insults.
In the end, perhaps the joke is on us
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