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Aiyegbeni Yakubu (born November 22, 1982 in Benin
City, Nigeria) is a Nigeria|Nigerian football
(soccer) player, who currently plays for
Middlesbrough F.C. He weighs 81 kg and is 1.85
meters in height.

A striker, Yakubu started his career at Israeli
team Maccabi Haifa F.C., where he won two
championships and had a phenomanal scoring record
both in the domestic and international
competitions - breaking serveral club records.
After scoring 7 goals in 8 European Cup
appearances (including a hat-trick against
Olympiakos) in the 2002/03 season UEFA Champions
League, Yakubu moved to English club Portsmouth
F.C. on January 2003.

His goals helped fire Portsmouth to the Division
One (now Football League Championship) title,
scoring at a rate of one goal every two games.

During the club's debut FA Premier
League|Premiership season, during which they
finished 13th, he scored 19 times in 40 starts, a
massive return for a striker at a small club.
During the summer of 2004 several other
Premiership teams were interested in purchasing
Yakubu for upto £10 million, but he chose to stay
and help consolidate the club's Premiership
position.

He has been capped several times for Nigeria
national football team|Nigeria, and is a regular
in the national team.

After the 2004-05 season, he transferred from
Pompey to Middlesbrough F.C.|Boro for a £7
million fee.

== Career Data ==

* Maccabi Haifa Youth team (1999)
* Hapoel Kfar Saba (2000)
** A second division club, played on loan
* Maccabi Haifa (2001 - 2003)
** 24 domestic league goals in 50 appearances
** 8 domestic cup goals in 9 appearances
** 7 domestic European Cup goals in 11 appearances
* Portsmouth F.C. (2003 - 2005)
** 19 Premier League goals in 40 appearances
* Middlesbrough F.C. (2005 - )

== External Links ==

*
http://maccabi-haifa.nana.co.il/Reports/showplayer
.asp?playerID=730 Yakubu page on Maccabi Haifa
website (Hebrew)

category:Nigerian footballers|Yakubu, Aiyegbeni