The impossible: Yakubu's miss is never to be forgotten
1-0 and 2-1 defeats to Argentina and Greece earlier in the tournament stopped the Super Eagles from securing a position in the last 16, in the early stages of the first round. Nigeria were striving to triumph over the Asian favorites, knowing that it was their last opportunity to reach the second round of the competition.
Somehow, all seemed to go well for the Africans as they stole a vital early opener in the first half through Kalu Uche. A nice cross from the right-hand side found Uche who, after coming out from nowhere, blasted the ball home to put Nigeria in front 1-0.
26 minutes later, Lee Jung Soo equalized for South Korea with a superb header after a greatly-taken free-kick by Ki Sung-Yueng. With this, the score line was leveled at half-time.
In second period, Korea became more positive, and they always looked close to taking the lead. They only had to wait until the 49th minute for Park Chu-Young to curl his free-kick past the Nigerian defense to put them in front 2-1.
Afterward, Nigeria had a host of chances, but they wasted them. African supporters almost celebrated what was impulsively looked upon as an equalizer, but they could only shout in misery and in huge disappointment, when this happened...
Yakubu Ayegbeni placed the ball wide from only 3 yards, despite being unmarked near the goal line. Regardless, the goal would have been offside if the ball had went at the back of the net, nevertheless, what makes this miss much more shocking is the fact that no one on the field of play had any idea about Yakubu’s offside position, and that hence, the striker himself might have put in his shot all his efforts with complete concentration. Still by hook or by hook, the ball went off-target.
He finally redeemed himself by scoring a penalty in the 69th minutes, but it was not enough to give the Nigerians a place in the last 16, as the game ended 2-2 at the expense of the Super Eagles. See Nigeria 2-2 Korea Republic.
Yakubu: A new word included in the Oxford English Dictionary - Meaning
Subsequent to Yakubu's shameful miss, the Oxford English Dictionary has now turned his name into a new word, meaning: To utterly squander once-in-a-lifetime opportunities especially one that will cause pain to millions of people; or to fail awfully at a very easy and uncomplicated assignment. Eg:" All she needed to do was show up and get the job that was waiting for her but guess what? She Yakubu’ed the opportunity." Other synonyms of the word Yakubu are:
1. Waste foolishly
2. Fritter away
3. Dissipate casually
4. Lose effortlessly
5. Waste pipe
