Former Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has opened up about his reaction to the memorable miss at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
After losses to Argentina and Greece, the Super Eagles needed a win against South Korea to advance from the group stage of the competition and Yakubu had a chance off Yusuf Ayila’s cross to put Lars Lagerback’s team ahead but his effort into an empty net was wide off target.
He later scored an equaliser for Nigeria from the penalty spot as the encounter ended in a 2-2 draw.
Over a decade after the miss, Yakubu claims he is still being abused by Nigerians for the chance he missed and his family is also targeted with abuse on social media.
The former Everton star recalled his reaction to the miss at the Moses Mabhida Stadium and how he responds to the troll messages from fans.
“But this one, when I missed it, in my head I thought it was a goal already,” Yakubu said on his Feed the Yak podcast. “There was a massive big scream there [the stadium]. I was watching the replay, I was chewing gum, I was smiling inside me like ‘how did I miss this one?’
“It is so sad when I see their Instagram stuff, I call them rats because if you keep talking about 14 years ago, about one miss, I even scored a penalty in that same game.
“I still get messages from people, different messages. I remember one was sending me a message like last week, he was like how do I explain that goal to my daughter Kayla.
“He mentioned my daughter’s name. Some even said my grandmother could even score that goal. It was so unreal. I’ve scored goals in the Premier League, 95 goals in over 200 games and now you are still telling me I’m the worst striker ever.”
Yakubu played for Nigeria from 2000 to 2012, and he scored a total of 21 goals in 57 matches, level with Victor Osimhen as the country’s third-highest goalscorer in history.
The 41-year-old represented Nigeria at four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010.
