Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has expressed distress regarding the ongoing bullying he endures from Nigerians due to a missed goal from 13 to 14 years ago.
Many Nigerian football enthusiasts struggle to erase the memory of June 22, 2010, when Aiyegbeni failed to convert a tap-in during a crucial World Cup match between Nigeria and South Korea. This miss occurred as Nigeria trailed South Korea 2-1 in their last Group A fixture at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in South Africa.
In a recent interview, the video was shared on social media platform, X, and he cried out that he is still getting messages from angry fans who are demanding an explanation of how he missed the tap-in with the goalkeeper and defenders out of the way.
“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 your 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.
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“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.”
