Wikipedia

Yusif Yakubu

Yusif Yakubu (born 4 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a forward.[1] He scored a total of 148 I-League goals from 2000 to 2014,[2] and is regarded as one of the best foreigners in history of football in India.[3][4][5]

Yusif Yakubu
Personal information
Date of birth (1976-09-04) 4 September 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth Kumasi, Ghana
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1997–1999 Hearts of Oak
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Al Ahly
2001–2005 Churchill Brothers 103 (65)
2005–2008 Mahindra United (17)
2008–2010 East Bengal (20)
2010–2011 Salgaocar (15)
2011–2012 Prayag United (12)
2012–2014 Mumbai 37 (18)
2016 East Bengal
2017 Churchill Brothers 0 (0)
Total (147)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

edit

Yakubu was born in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, in 1976, and began his youth football career in Ghanaian side Hearts of Oak in 1997. He later moved to Egyptian Premier League side Al Ahly SC in 1998 and played until 2000, before settling in Indian clubs permanently.[6]

Before joining Kingfisher East Bengal,[7] he had played for the I-League clubs Churchill Brothers[8][9][10] and Mahindra United.[11] From 2001 to 2005, he scored 65 goals in 103 league matches with Churchill Brothers, finishing National Football League's top scorer twice.[12][13][14] He scored his first NFC hat-trick with Churchill on 5 March 2004 against Indian Bank RC in a 4–1 win.[15] In one season with Mahindra United,[16] he won Federation Cup and NFL.[17]

With East Bengal, Yakubu formed an impressive partnership with Bhaichung Bhutia,[18] and scored nine goals in the 2008–09 I-League.[19][20] He was part of the team's friendly matches of Myanmar tour, against Myanmar National League teams, in which they won two, drew one and lost one.[21]

He is one of the all-time top scorer in Indian League and has scored 100 goals in the top tier of Indian football.[22] On 26 May 2010, left East Bengal Club and signed for Salgaocar SC.[23][24] From 2011 to 2012, he appeared with Prayag United and was in the squad that emerged as runners-up of 2012 IFA Shield.[25][26][27] He is considered as one of the finest foreign football players in the history of Indian Club football.[28]

In 2012, he moved to Mumbai FC and with the Mumbaikars, he scored his first hat-trick in I-League against Churchill Brothers in a 4–2 win on 13 April 2014.[29] In the [30] 2014–15 I-League season, they managed to acquire sixth position.[31][32]

In January 2016, Yakubu moved to another Kolkata-based side Mohammedan Sporting.[33]

On 7 August 2017, it was announced that Yakubu would return to India to sign for Churchill Brothers for their Goa Professional League campaign.[34]

Honours

edit

Al Ahly

Churchill Brothers

Mahindra United

East Bengal

Salgaocar

Prayag United

Individual

References

edit
  1. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (13 July 2011). "Tactical Evolution Of Indian Football: Part Four – Modern Era (1999—2011)". thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  2. ^ Time to regain lost glory Archived 5 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Telegraph India. Retrieved 22 September 2021
  3. ^ a b "From the History Book". All India Football Federation. the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Leading Goal Scorers". Rediff.com. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Indian football: Fred Pugsley, Chima Okorie, Ranti Martins – the foreign strikers who shone in India". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  6. ^ Foreign recruits in Indian football – A short recap Archived 21 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine Indianfooty.net. Retrieved 23 September 2021
  7. ^ "Yakubu scores two as EB beat Churchill". Times of India. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Season ending Transfers 2004". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  9. ^ Nair, Avinash (4–10 May 2002). "'Football is my profession'". The Sportstar. Vol. 25, no. 18. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ "Churchill pips Tollygunge 3-2". m.rediff.com. Rediff Sports. 21 February 2004. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  11. ^ Somnath Sengupta (19 March 2012). "Indian Football Rewind: Fransa Pax – How Mickky Pacheco's Ego Destroyed A Football Club". Thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  12. ^ Serrao, Francis (14 November 2002). "Churchill, Salgaocar set to kick-off NFL". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Salgaocar finish second". Rediff.com. Press Trust of India. 28 April 2003. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  14. ^ "NFL Champions and Goalscorers". Rediff. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Yakubu nets three in Churchill's big win". Rediff.com. 5 March 2004. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  16. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "1st "ONGC" I-League – Division 1 2007/08". IndianFootball.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  17. ^ Five best foreigners to grace Indian football Archived 16 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021
  18. ^ "Grief-stricken Yakubu does it for East Bengal". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  19. ^ I-League 2008-2009 points table and statistics Archived 22 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 July 2021
  20. ^ "Yusif Yakubu: India's Very Own Black Star". thehardtackle.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  21. ^ "East Bengal end Myanmar tour with draw". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  22. ^ Laha, Somshuvra (22 January 2010). "Grief-stricken Yakubu does it for East Bengal". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Salgaocar sign Yakubu, Seoka". Zee News. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  24. ^ "Season ending transfers 2010". Indianfootball.de. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  25. ^ Yusif Yakubu player profile Archived 15 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine Soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021
  26. ^ Ganguly, Abhishek (17 March 2012). "Gurpreet hands East Bengal IFA Shield title". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  27. ^ Chowdhuri, Arunava (17 March 2012). "116th IFA Shield: East Bengal crowned champions!". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  28. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (7 December 2010). "High Five: Best Foreigners in Indian Football". TheHardTackle.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  29. ^ "I-League: Hattrick-hero Yusif Yakubu powers Mumbai FC to a 4–2 win over Churchill Bros". WIFA. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  30. ^ Shukla, Kaushal (26 January 2016). "Back home, Mumbai FC's Pratik Chaudhari says he is thriving under Khalid Jamil's faith". Football Counter. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  31. ^ "Players - I-League - India - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  32. ^ "Hero I-League FairPlay Points Table". I-League. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  33. ^ Sporting Media, Mohammedan (16 February 2016). "James Moga & Yusif Yakubu Joins Mohammedan". i-league.org. Kolkata, West Bengal: I-League. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  34. ^ Mergulhao, Marcus (7 August 2017). "Striker Yakubu Yusif set to return to Churchill Brothers". Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  35. ^ "الأهلي الأكثر تتويجًا بالبطولات في العالم". Al Ahly SC Website. 24 July 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  36. ^ "Rise of a new champion: When Mahindra United became the first Mumbai team to win the NFL title". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  37. ^ "From the history book, roll of honour". 10 January 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  38. ^ "The resurrection of East Bengal". sportstarlive.com. Sportstar. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  39. ^ Salgaocar lifts the Federation Cup with style the-aiff.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021
  40. ^ "124 Durand Cup | kolkatafootball.com|Indian Football News". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  41. ^ "116th IFA SHIELD : "Gurpreet is the hero of the match today" James Morgan". Kolkata Football. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.

Further reading

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yusif_Yakubu&oldid=1244339513"