The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Yobo

  • Yobo may miss Nations Cup

    Yobo may miss Nations Cup

    Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, may miss next year’s African Cup of Nations as a result of a major knee injury, officials told MTNFootball.com.

    MTNFootball.com gathered that Yobo, who is set for his 90th international cap, has suffered a cruciate ligament knee injury, which could rule him out of action for at least six months.

    Yobo missed the decisive Nations Cup qualifier against Liberia in Calabar earlier this month.

    He was replaced by Efe Ambrose due to injury in the first leg match played in September.

    The former Everton defender is also expected to miss his Turkish club’s UEFA Europa League clash on Thursday against AEL Limassol of Greece.

    “Yobo is nursing a very serious knee injury which may stop him from featuring at the Nations Cup. He has a cruciate ligament problem in the knee and such an injury could keep out a player for as long as six months,” a top source informed MTNFootball.com

    “The team officials are very much aware of this and have started working on several options in the team without Yobo,” the source added.

     

  • BATTLE OF CALABAR SHOCKER Yobo out

    BATTLE OF CALABAR SHOCKER Yobo out

    • Suffers knee injury in club game

    • Weeps in Turkey

    Captain of Nigeria’s senior team Joseph Yobo has been ruled out of Saturday’s crucial 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia due to a knee injury he sustained while playing for his Turkish side on Monday night.

    SportingLife gathered from those who should know about the team’s captain in Turkey that the Nigerian wept like a kid on the stretcher that took him out of the pitch after playing remarkably well for 70 minutes.

    But on Tuesday morning after seeing the team’s doctors, who warned that he shouldn’t risk the leg against the Liberians in Calabar on Saturday, Yobo promised to be in the Caanan City to cherer his mates to victory, stressing that, “I will sit on the bench to urge them on. Coach Stephen Keshi has done well for the team and it is just unfortunate that I won’t be part of the team to physically destroy the Liberians.”

    “I want to appeal to Nigerians to cheer the boys ceaselessly because that is what they need to motivate them to beat the Liberians. In the first leg game, they supported their players by wearing red, the whole stadium was painted in red. It was so intimidating when we first stepped onto the pitch. The Liberians cheered their players all through the match. But here in Nigeria, they will be beaten mercilessly.

    “Thank God what we need is an outright victory. We will go for it. I have been talking with the players and they have promised to die on the pitch, if that will ensure that Nigeria’s flag is hoisted among the comity of nations in South Africa next year for the Africa Cup of Nations. We missed out of the last editon and we promised ourselves to be in South Africa,” Yobo said.

     

  • Yobo: I’m under pressure to win

    Yobo: I’m under pressure to win

    Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo has rated the Turkish League very high among others in Europe, and that he is always under pressure to challenge for League and Cup glory at Fenerbahce.

    In an exclusive chat with SportingLife, the Fernabahce of Turkey defender said: “The Turkish League is no pushover. It is very competitive also. When I newly got there, I thought it would be an easy league, but I later found out that it has the same standard as what obtains elsewhere in Europe.

    “It is good that many Nigerian players are coming over there. It would be good for our football if they are able to make it there. It would go a long way to improve their game. It doesn’t matter which club you are playing for over there, the League is good because you play with the best of players in the World. I think the Turkish League is very competitive”.

    On why it took him much time to finalise a deal with Fernabache after staying with them for upward of two years, the record-chasing former junior International said: “I don’t know why it took time for Fernabache to finally tie a permanent deal with me, all I know is that we always talked on phone; so, I don’t know. But one thing that remains is that transactions don’t come so easy. I am happy now that everything is over, I have a three-year deal, and football goes on.”

    Continuing, the towering defender said: ” I want to put the past behind me, all I know is that everything is okay now, I’m looking to the future.

    “I went to Fernabache because I wanted to challenge for the Champions Cup; because Fernabache is such a big club which was the difference when I was playing for Everton. Now I’m in a place where I am under pressure to win the League at the end of every season, we are challenging to win the FA Cup every season; these keep me going.”

    He promised to hit camp immediately the invitations come, and said he is always in touch with the other players, as their spirits are high towards the return leg match against the Lone Stars of Liberia.

  • Yobo rates NPL stars high

    Yobo rates NPL stars high

    Joseph Yobo has hailed the players who are based at home like Gabriel Reuben and Ejike Uzoenyi for increasing competition in the Eagles.
    Yobo told MTNFootball.com, “Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Ejike Uzoenyi and Gabriel Reuben have shown class so far in the Eagles squad. They have brought a healthy competition to the national team.”
    Yobo therefore expressed displeasure with reports in the local media credited to him that the home based players are not good enough.
    “I am shocked to hear such a report. I spoke to journalists at the FA secretariat and all I said was that we need more time together for blending. If I say I am not disappointed, I would be lying,” he said.
    “I am the captain of this team and as a leader why should I run down my colleagues in public? They all know me, if am not happy about something, I would call the player and tell them.”
    The former Everton of England defender added that Nigerians need not worry because the Eagles would make them proud, stressing that he is on the same page with coach Stephen Keshi.
    “Nigerians need not fear or panic. Like I have said before, this is not a must-win game but a must draw but we will go all out for victory next month,” he restated
    “All I ask is for Nigerians to come all out and support the team.
    “Also let me use this opportunity to say that there is no discord whatsoever between me and coach Stephen Keshi. We have one agenda and that is to qualify our country for the Nations Cup.”

  • Liberia draw: Fans’ anger shocks Yobo

    • Says Eagles only need a draw in Calabar
    Eagles skipper Joseph Yobo has said he is shocked by fans’ disappointment after Nigeria were forced to a 2-2 draw by Liberia at the weekend.
    The Eagles came from a goal down and were running away with a 2-1 victory before the home team fought back to draw 2-2 in a game most Nigerian fans expected the Eagles to win.
    However, the country’s mo

    YOBO

    st capped international with 90 appearances Yobo has insisted the draw in Monrovia was a good result by the team.
    He told MTNFootball.com: “Unlike before when our last (2012) Nations Cup qualifying game (against Guinea at home) was a must-win with us needing to score a certain number of goals, this is not the case.
    “In the UEFA Champions League, teams work hard to get at least one away goal knowing that a single goal at home will earn you the victory to reach the next round.
    “In our case, we have two away goals, so the return leg is not a must-win but a must-draw.”
    The former Everton defender added,”We all know that the Eagles’ form at home is very good and I am confident that we will beat them next month in the return leg.”
    Yobo, who was substituted in Saturday’s game by Efe Ambrose, also featured for the Eagles when they last lost to the Lone Star 2-1 in Monrovia in 2001.
    The Eagles then avenged that shock loss with a 2-0 win in Port Harcourt to get their qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup back on track.

  • Yakubu, Mikel come tops•Emenike gets 42 million Euros buy-out clause

    JOSEPH Yobo, Mikel Obi and Yakubu Aiyegbeni are Nigeria’s biggest earners as they each pocket in excess of two million Euros a year.
    MTNFootball.com has again scooped that another top Nigerian earner in football is Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike.

    Yobo is smiling all the way to the bank because his earnings are free of tax in Turkey, unlike when he was in England with Everton.
    “He’s on crazy money at Fenerbache and he is also playing week in, week out, which was not the case at Everton at a point,” a top source informed MTNFootball.com
    That could well explain why several more players from Nigeria have now moved to seek their fortune there – Kalu

    Uche (Kasimpasa), Raheem Lawal (Adana Demirspor) and Uche Kalu (Caysur Rizespor).

    “It is a good place for Nigerians to go to because the football is not bad and the money is good because it is free of any tax,” a top agent informed MTNFootball.com
    Yakubu has proved himself in the English Premier League by scoring double digit number of goals, season after season and so his decision to cash in on a final pay day in China, where he is reportedly on 100,000 pounds-tax free a week.

    His super agent Pini Zahavi has even before the striker’s move to China secured his financial future for him.
    Mikel is on 80,000 pounds a week at Stamford Bridge, but when he has to pay

    about 42% of that as tax, it leaves him with a little more than 40,000 pounds a week.

    He also received a hefty bonus when Chelsea made history by winning their first UEFA Champions League. But again it was heavily taxed.

    Emenike is also on a fabulous contract of about 2.5 million Euros a year, but in Russia he has to pay tax and that way he earns less than his national team skipper.
    Spartak have reportedly inserted a buy-out clause of 42 million Euros in Emenike’s contract after he extended his deal till 2016.

    Defender Taye Taiwo also bagged a super deal when he signed up with Italian giants AC Milan. He was on something like 335,000 Euros a month but tax and limited playing time would have eaten deep into this little fortune.