The 1st African player to score a hattrick in the Champions League retires from football
Former Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has announced he is retiring from football as he clocks 35 years of age today.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni who is very popular amongst the English fans for his goal-scoring prowess has finally called it quit after an unsuccessful stint at Derby County earlier this year.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni who is the first African player to score a hattrick in the Champions League when scored all the goals in Maccabi Haifa’s 3-0 win over Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League Group F match on Tuesday 24th September 2002 is also third on the list of highest goal scoring African in the history of the Premier League.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni whose 96 goals came in 250 Premier League matches for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers made the announcement today on his 35th birthday.
“I would like to officially announce my retirement from professional football today,” Yakubu told Sky Sports on Wednesday.
The powerful striker scored 21 goals in 57 appearances for Nigeria and took part in four Africa Cup of Nations as well as the 2010 World Cup.
“The Yak… is 3rd best all-time scorer for the senior national team. Thank you for the memories,” the Nigerian Football Federation tweeted.
Didier Drogba (104) and Emmanuel Adebayor (97) are the only Africans with more goals than Yakubu Aiyegbeni in the Premier League while Rashidi Yekini (37) and Segun Odegbami (23) have more goals than “the Yak” who had 21 goals.
