Yusif Yakubu
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Yusif Yakubu | ||
Date of birth | 4 September 1976 | ||
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 | ||
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) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Yusif Yakubu (born 4 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is regarded as one of the best foreigners in history of football in India.[1][2][3]
Career[]
Yakubu was born in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, in 1976, and began his youth football career in Ghanaian side Hearts of Oak in 1997.
Before joining Kingfisher East Bengal,[4] he had played for the I-League clubs Churchill Brothers[5] and Mahindra United. From 2001 to 2005, he scored 65 goals in 103 league matches with Churchill Brothers, finishing National Football League's top scorer twice.[6][7][8] He scored his first NFC hat-trick with Churchill on 5 March 2004 against Indian Bank in a 4–1 win.[9] In one season with Mahindra United,[10] he won Federation Cup and NFL.[11]
With East Bengal, Yakubu formed an impressive partnership with Bhaichung Bhutia,[12] and scored nine goals in the 2008–09 I-League.[13][14] 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.[15]
He is one of the all-time top scorer in Indian League and has scored 100 goals in the top tier of Indian football.[16] On 26 May 2010, left East Bengal Club and signed for Salgaocar SC.[17][18] From 2011 to 2012, he appeared with Prayag United and was in the squad that emerged as runners-up of 2012 IFA Shield.[19][20][21] He is considered as one of the finest foreign football players in the history of Indian Club football.[22]
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.[23] In the [24] 2014–15 I-League season, they managed to acquire sixth position.[25][26]
In January 2016, Yakubu moved to another Kolkata-based side Mohammedan Sporting.[27]
On 7 August 2017, it was announced that Yakubu would return to India to sign for Churchill Brothers for their Goa Professional League campaign.[28]
Honours[]
Al Ahly
Churchill Brothers
Mahindra United
- National Football League: 2005–06[30]
- Federation Cup (India): 2005[31]
- Indian Super Cup: 2006
East Bengal
- Federation Cup: 2009–10, 2010
- Calcutta Football League: 2010
Salgaocar
Prayag United
- Durand Cup: runner-up 2011[33]
- IFA Shield: runner-up 2012[34]
Individual
- National Football League golden boot: 2001–02 (with 18 goals), 2002–03 (with 21 goals)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: 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.
- ^ "Leading Goal Scorers". Rediff.com. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ "Indian football: Fred Pugsley, Chima Okorie, Ranti Martins – the foreign strikers who shone in India". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ "Yakubu scores two as EB beat Churchill". Times of India. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Serrao, Francis (14 November 2002). "Churchill, Salgaocar set to kick-off NFL". Rediff.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ "Salgaocar finish second". Rediff.com. Press Trust of India. 28 April 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ "NFL Champions and Goalscorers". Rediff. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "Yakubu nets three in Churchill's big win". Rediff.com. 5 March 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "1st "ONGC" I-League – Division 1 2007/08". IndianFootball.com. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ Five best foreigners to grace Indian football sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021
- ^ "Grief-stricken Yakubu does it for East Bengal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ I-League 2008-2009 points table and statistics worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 July 2021
- ^ "Yusif Yakubu: India's Very Own Black Star". thehardtackle.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "East Bengal end Myanmar tour with draw". Goal.com. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Laha, Somshuvra (22 January 2010). "Grief-stricken Yakubu does it for East Bengal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Salgaocar sign Yakubu, Seoka". Zee News. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Season ending transfers 2010". Indianfootball.de. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ Yusif Yakubu player profile Soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021
- ^ Ganguly, Abhishek (17 March 2012). "Gurpreet hands East Bengal IFA Shield title". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ Chowdhuri, Arunava (17 March 2012). "116th IFA Shield: East Bengal crowned champions!". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ Sengupta, Somnath (7 December 2010). "High Five: Best Foreigners in Indian Football". TheHardTackle.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
- ^ "I-League: Hattrick-hero Yusif Yakubu powers Mumbai FC to a 4–2 win over Churchill Bros". WIFA. 16 April 2014.
- ^ Shukla, Kaushal (26 January 2016). "Back home, Mumbai FC's Pratik Chaudhari says he is thriving under Khalid Jamil's faith". Football Counter. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ "Players - I-League - India - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway".
- ^ "Hero I-League FairPlay Points Table". I-League.
- ^ "James Moga & Yusif Yakubu Joins Mohammedan". i-league.org. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Mergulhao, Marcus (7 August 2017). "Striker Yakubu Yusif set to return to Churchill Brothers". Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ "الأهلي الأكثر تتويجًا بالبطولات في العالم". Al Ahly SC Website. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "Rise of a new champion: When Mahindra United became the first Mumbai team to win the NFL title". Scroll.in. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ "From the history book, roll of honour". 10 January 2015.
- ^ Salgaocar lifts the Federation Cup with style the-aiff.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "116th IFA SHIELD : "Gurpreet is the hero of the match today" James Morgan". Kolkata Football. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
External links[]
- Yusif Yakubu at Soccerway
- Living people
- 1976 births
- Sportspeople from Kumasi
- Ghanaian footballers
- Association football forwards
- Egyptian Premier League players
- I-League players
- Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players
- Al Ahly SC players
- Churchill Brothers FC Goa players
- Mahindra United F.C. players
- SC East Bengal players
- Salgaocar FC players
- United S.C. players
- Mumbai F.C. players
- Ghanaian expatriate footballers
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt
- Expatriate footballers in Egypt
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in India
- Expatriate footballers in India