Former Nigerian international Yakubu Aiyegbeni announces his retirement from football today. His nickname is “The Yak”. His performances in the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League for Maccabi Haifa earned a loan move to English club Portsmouth which became permanent as they were promoted to the Premier League in 2003. He has since appeared in over 250 Premier League matches for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers, and is the second highest African goalscorer in Premier League history with 96 goals. He is the third highest scorer in the history of the Nigeria national football team, and represented them at four African Cup of Nations finals, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the football at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Yakubu notably missed an open goal from three metres against South Korea in the last Group game but later went on to score a penalty. Yakubu’s penalty made sure that Nigeria earned a 2–2 draw, but this was not enough for his side to progress out of the group stages.
He last played as a striker for Coventry City before announcing his retirement on his 35th birthday.
