Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has expressed frustration over enduring relentless criticism from Nigerians regarding a missed goal 13 to 14 years ago.
The incident in question occurred on June 22, 2010 during a World Cup match between Nigeria and South Korea. Aiyegbeni missed a crucial tap-in opportunity when Nigeria was trailing South Korea 2-1 in their final Group A match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in South Africa.
Despite later scoring from a penalty, Aiyegbeni faced immense backlash from Super Eagles fans who were unable to forgive or forget the missed chance.
In a recent interview, Aiyegbeni revealed that he continues to receive messages from disgruntled fans demanding explanations for his infamous miss, despite the passage of over a decade.
“I still get messages from people. Different messages. I remember one was sending a message last week and he was like ‘how do you explain that goal missed to you daughter Kayla’ he mentioned my daughter’s name ‘Kayla’. I was like 13 to 14 years ago and people still think about that,” he said.
“I got a message today and someone was like ‘you’re the worst Super Eagles striker’ because of that particular goal I missed. They never think about all the other goals I’ve scored.
“They never think about when I scored goals in Sudan when nobody thought we’d qualify for Korea Japan 2002. We went to Sudan. Nobody ever thought we’d qualify because the weather there was crazy. If we get a draw or lose we’re out.
“There I scored 2 goals. Julius Aghahowa scored one and Jay Jay Okocha, ‘pa Jay’ scored another one. We won 4-0. That gave us the ticket and went to Korea-Japan 2000.
“But people in Nigeria never speak about how I made them qualify but didn’t go to the World Cup. I was shocked. I played 99.9% of every game to qualify Nigeria for Japan/Korea and I was dropped.”
