I'm based in England and I'm a fan of Portsmouth, and I'm curious about what kind of a role Yakubu Aiyegbeni plays in your national team - does he start often, does he play well, what do the fans think of him, is he regarded as a key player or just someone who happens to be quite good. I've seen him play twice for Portsmouth up close and he looks fantastic, but we don't hear much about the Nigeria national team over here so it's difficult to find out how he plays. Anyone got any thoughts on him?
Well he's scored quite a few goals recently, he's a decent player but he does have his critics. He's an established player nowadays, but once Aghahowa returns from injury and with the likes of Martins, Kanu, Agali etc fighting for a place, i wont be surprised if he goes out of favour.
Thanks for informing me. Didn't he make his international debut at 16 or something? I remember hearing that somewhere when he signed for us. I do think him and Julius Aghahowa could be a quality partnership in years to come for you guys - especially if you had someone like Kanu in the hole behind them, with Okocha in midfield, along with maybe Lawal and Utaka, or he is a striker I'm not sure. Akwuegbu maybe, although he might be a striker too. - and what's happened to Pius Ikedia and Bartholomew Ogbeche? I saw them at WC2002 and was very impressed, and am I right in saying they're both strikers? Well you guys certainly have a solid back five - Shorunmu, Yobo, Okoronkwo, West and Udeze is a defence to be proud of, it looked good in the World Cup at least, only conceded 3 goals. Good luck to Nigeria in the future, it looks bright - and we'll try and make sure Aiyegbeni gets some Premiership shooting practice so he bangs them in when he plays for you!