SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, (THEWILL) – Former Super Eagles striker and ex-Everton man, Yakubu Ayegbeni, has expressed sadness that some Nigerians still won’t forget his miss against South Korea at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Ayegbeni told Goal that: “Even if I scored, were we going to win that World Cup? That I am not sure of.
“I have scored so many goals for Nigeria and even when people thought we would never qualify for the World Cup, I stood up to be counted.
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“I have always done my best to help the country but it’s weird that people still send me messages till date even on social media about that miss.
“They would write things like ‘I never forget o, I never forget the goal wey you miss o’ [I haven’t forgotten the goal you missed], ‘we no go forgive you o’ [we won’t forgive you], etc and I would be like wow.
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“I felt bad when I missed it but people still talk about it and are saying if I had scored, we should have gone to the next round,” he said.
Even at that, ‘the Yak’ who, is Nigeria’s third-highest all-time goalscorer with 21 goals from 57 caps, insists he has no Regrets Whatsoever because he was able to fulfill his childhood ambitions.
“I never let that affect me because I think only about the good memories,” he told Goal.
“Ten years in the national team was great and wearing the green and white jersey was an honour for me. I still watch some of my goals with my kids.
“Also, playing in the national team was a joy for me because that was my childhood dream.
“As a player, you want to play for your country and I’m glad I did so graduating to the Super Eagles after playing for the U23 team.
“I was also opportune to play at the South Africa World Cup where I scored a goal. I have no regrets whatsoever despite my miss against South Korea.”
THEWILL reports that Ayegbeni’s miss was at the Round of 16 against South Korea when the striker could not put the ball into the net from three yards into an open goal after goalkeeper, Jung Sung-ryong had been completely beaten.
