Nigerians remember my single miss more than other achievements — Aiyegbeni

By Tosin Omojola

Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni expressed his frustration over how Nigerians often overlook his accomplishments for the national team, focusing instead on a missed goal against South Korea in the 2010 World Cup.

The missed chance by the former Middlesbrough star was widely blamed for Nigeria’s early exit from the tournament. However, Aiyegbeni maintains that his contributions to Nigerian football outweigh that single mistake, adding that he has no regrets about representing his country.

“Regret playing for Nigeria? Not a chance. It was an honor for me to play for my country; every player dreams of that,” Aiyegbeni told Flashscore in an open interview. “I was born in Nigeria, grew up in Benin, Edo State. Wearing the green and white jersey was a privilege.”

Reflecting on his World Cup experience, he added, “Being at the World Cup in South Africa was a great opportunity to represent my country. It’s funny that people still talk about the miss – almost 14 years later – and not the good moments.”

Aiyegbeni pointed out that his achievements, such as helping Nigeria qualify for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, are rarely mentioned. “People never talked about when I qualified Nigeria for that World Cup, even though I was later dropped. And yet, I still had the courage to take the penalty after 10 minutes. People still send me messages about missing that goal.”

Looking back, Aiyegbeni believes that even if Nigeria had advanced further, the team wasn’t likely to win the 2010 World Cup. “We’ve competed in other World Cups, and there are those we didn’t qualify for, but no one seems to talk about those. Everyone watches Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and they miss chances too. But somehow, people keep bringing up my miss. Maybe they just love me for that,” he concluded.