By Akeem Lawal
FORMER Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has said that he does not owe Nigerians any apology for his miss against South Korea at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.l, Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports.
After defeats to Argentina and Greece, Lars Lagerback’s men needed a win to qualify for the Round of 16, but could only secure a 2-2 at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The major talking point of the game was Aiyegbeni’s unbelievable miss from three yards into an open goal, after rolling his effort wide with goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong completely beaten.
The former Everton striker, who was a guest on The Nation Newspaper’s TV programme, tagged YAK Live on The NationTV said he has no apology for the miss as other great players have missed such chances and heaven did not fall.
“I think the ball was from Yusuf Ayila and I was 100 percent sure that it will be a goal. But as soon as I tapped the ball, I saw it going out. There was a big massive screen at the stadium there, so I was watching the replay. Inside me, I was imagining how that could happen, not that I was smiling as people see it.
“I don’t need to say sorry to anyone. I didn’t do it on purpose, people miss chances. I have scored so many goals for Nigeria too even when they don’t believe we will qualify.
“I played all the games during the qualifier for the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup and scored two goals in the all-important 4-0 win at Sudan but I was still dropped by Adegboye Onigbinde before the tournament. Did anyone say I deserved to be there? Nobody spoke about it. Nobody ever came to me, Yak sorry you didn’t go to the World Cup. I deserved to play at the 2002 World Cup. Why would I have to go and say sorry for the miss, it’s the same.
“Obafemi Martins missed some chances during the same match too and nobody speak about them. The thing is that Nigerians forget about the sacrifices we give. I remembered when we went to Sierra Leone with Jay Jay, Aghahowa, and the rest while fighting was going on there. When we got to Sierra Leone, we had to leave the airport by helicopter. Everyone was scared.
“People don’t know the risk we took for the country before we play. It’s not about the money, there is no money playing for the national team, it won’t change your life. It’s just the pride of playing for one's country because we make money playing for our clubs. The money we make from our clubs is our living, not the national team,” the former Portsmouth and Middlesbrough striker said.
Aiyegbeni featured in three Africa Cup of Nations finals and is Nigeria’s third-highest all-time goalscorer with 21 goals from 57 caps.
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