Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Yakubu Aiyegbeni
YakubuNigeria 1182582.jpg
Personal information
Full name Yakubu Ayegbeni
Date of birth 22 November 1982 (1982-11-22) (age 28)
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Everton
Number 22
Youth career
1995–1998 Gateway
1998 Julius Berger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1998 Gil Vicente 0 (0)
1999–2003 Maccabi Haifa 50 (24)
1999–2000 → Hapoel Kfar Saba (loan) 23 (6)
2003 → Portsmouth (loan) 14 (7)
2003–2005 Portsmouth 66 (29)
2005–2007 Middlesbrough 73 (25)
2007– Everton 68 (24)
National team‡
2000– Nigeria 57 (21)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:22, 12 May 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 05:17, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Yakubu Ayegbeni (born 22 November 1982 in Benin City), nicknamed The Yak[1] and generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Everton in the Premier League.

Yakubu plays internationally for the Nigerian national team, where he has won 57 caps and scored 21 goals.

He scored in the last group game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, leveling the scores against South Korea with a penalty. He is currently the third highest ever international goalscorer for Nigeria.

Contents

International Club career

A powerful pacy striker, Yakubu started his career in Barcelos, Portugal with Gil Vicente, where was then bought by Israeli team Maccabi Haifa, who loaned him for one season to Hapoel Kfar Saba. He was close to move to Dynamo Kyiv on a loan but the deal never accured. With Haifa, he won two championships and had an excellent scoring record with the club, both in the domestic and international competitions, breaking several club records. He came to England and trained with Derby County but could not obtain a work permit at the time. After scoring seven goals in eight European Cup appearances (including a hat-trick) in the 2002–03 season UEFA Champions League, Yakubu moved to English club Portsmouth.

Portsmouth

His goals helped fire Portsmouth to the Division One title, scoring at a rate of one goal every two games.

During the club's debut Premier League season, in which they finished 13th, he scored 16 times in 35 starts, including four in a single game as Portsmouth defeated Middlesbrough 5–1 on the final day of the season. During the summer of 2004, several other Premiership teams were interested in purchasing Yakubu for up to £10 million, but he chose to stay and help consolidate the club's Premiership position. His final goal for Portsmouth in May 2005 before he left the club — the equaliser in a 1–1 home draw to Bolton Wanderers in the penulitimate league game of the season — was the goal that ensured Portsmouth would not be relegated from Premiership in the 2004–05 season.

Middlesbrough

After the 2004–05 season, he transferred from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough for a £7.5 million fee.[2] Yakubu scored the only goal of the game with a penalty in the first leg of the UEFA Cup last 16 round at home against Roma, giving Middlesbrough a 1–0 victory, who later went through on away goals. He played for Middlesbrough in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final.

His transfer from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough in July 2005 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pinhas Zahavi and Barry Silkman.[3]

Everton

Yakubu was transferred to Everton in August 2007 for a fee of £11.25 million.[1] Shunning the traditional centre-forwards' number 9, Yakubu asked to be assigned number 22, setting this number as a goal-scoring target for his first season,[4] a feat he fell one goal short of achieving.[5] He scored 11 minutes into his debut for the club, the first goal in a 2–1 win against Bolton Wanderers at Reebok Stadium in September 2007.[6] His first "yak"-trick came against Fulham in a 3–0 home league win in December 2007.[7] Yakubu travelled to Ghana in early 2008 to compete in the Cup of Nations. Following Nigeria's exit from the competition, he was late in returning to his club, and as a result was dropped by manager David Moyes once back in England.[1] His double against Newcastle United in a 3–1 win at Goodison Park on the last day of the 2007–08 season helped the Toffees clinch fifth place and a place in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup competition. He finished his first season with 15 Premier League goals to his name, and 21 goals in all competitions for Everton.[8] Yakubu got his highest goal tally for a single season, and also became the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley to net 20 goals in a season.[9]

Yakubu scored his 100th goal in English football in a league game at West Bromwich Albion early in the Premier League 2008–09 season.[10] He continued his great start to the season with a goal against Standard Liège in the UEFA Cup. He got back on the scoresheet with a lucky, but clever, goal against Middlesbrough, his first goal in 10 games, but ruptured his achilles tendon in the 1–0 away win at Tottenham Hotspur on 30 November, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Yakubu played his first competitive game after the achilles tendon injury against Burnley Reserves, and in his first start for the first team in almost a year, he scored within 11 minutes against Hull City in the Carling Cup with a typically cool-headed finish. He came on for Jô in first-half injury time and scored an equaliser with his first touch to bring Everton level at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

National career

Yakubu has scored 21 goals in his 57 appearances for Nigeria, beginning with a goal against Namibia on 16 June 2001 in a Cup of Nations qualifier.

International goals

Yakubu in action for Middlesbrough, 2006
Scores and results table. Nigeria's goal tally first:

Statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2002–03 Portsmouth First Division 14 7 - - - 14 7
2003–04 Premier League 36 16 4 1 2 2 - 42 19
2004–05 30 13 2 2 3 2 - 35 17
2005–06 Middlesbrough Premier League 34 13 7 4 2 0 13 2 56 19
2006–07 37 12 8 4 - - 45 16
2007–08 2 0 - - - 2 0
2007–08 Everton Premier League 31 15 1 0 3 3 6 3 41 21
2008–09 14 4 0 0 1 0 2 1 17 5
2009–10 21 5 0 0 2 1 8 0 29 6
Total England 219 85 22 11 13 8 29 6 277 108
Career total 213 82 22 11 13 8 29 6 277 108

Honours

Maccabi Haifa

Portsmouth

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Players: Squad Profiles: Yakubu Ayegbeni". Everton F.C.. http://evertonfc.com/player-profile/yakubu-ayegbeni. Retrieved 2008-08-28. 
  2. ↑ "Yakubu has not asked for move.". BBC Sport. 2007-09-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/middlesbrough/6938421.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-01. 
  3. ↑ "What Stevens said about each club". London: www.telegraph.co.uk. 2007-06-16. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2007/06/16/sfnste116.xml. Retrieved 2007-06-17. 
  4. ↑ http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/everton-fc/2007/09/29/yakubu-aims-to-snatch-22-55578-19866022/
  5. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=814520
  6. ↑ McNulty, Phil (2007-09-01). "Bolton 1–2 Everton". BBC Sport Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6963699.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 
  7. ↑ Rowbottom, Mike (2007-12-09). "Everton 3 Fulham 0: Yakubu's treble rewards patience of Everton faithful". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/everton-3-fulham-0-yakubus-treble-rewards-patience-of-everton-faithful-764007.html. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 
  8. ↑ Yakubu Aiyegbenji career stats at Soccerbase
  9. ↑ Herbert, Ian (2008-05-12). "Everton 3 Newcastle United 1: Yakubu's double seals high five for Everton". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/everton-3-newcastle-united-1-yakubus-double-seals-high-five-for-everton-826312.html. 
  10. ↑ Bevan, Chris (2008-08-23). "West Brom 1–2 Everton". BBC Sport Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7565064.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-28. 

External links

Everton F.C. – current squad

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