With barely 48 hours to the planned testimonial game to celebrate Joseph Yobo’s retirement from football in Port Harcourt on Friday afternoon, the former Super Eagles captain reflected on his illustrious career yesterday, insisting all his 101 caps for Nigeria are special to him.
Yobo insisted that he cannot single out any of his games in the national colour as better than the others.
“I feel fulfilled playing for Nigeria. In fact, all the matches were special. I cannot tell you I treasure this one more than the other. Whether it was a friendly game or a World Cup, there was this special feeling I had anytime I put on the national colours,” stressed the former Everton and Fenerbahce defender while ruminating on his time at the senior national team.
He continued; “Whether it was my debut against Zambia or my 87th against Rwanda when I became the most capped Nigerian at the time or the game against Argentina where I became the first Nigerian to reach 100 or even the last one against France, every moment was special”.
As all roads lead to Port Harcourt for Yobo’s Centenary Testimonial on Friday, he has urged the new generation of Eagles to be more committed to the national team.
“I am privileged to be the first Nigerian player to make FIFA’s exclusive Century Club. I feel so glad to have reached that milestone for my country. The younger ones should give the national team all their best. It is a privilege to be deemed worthy to wear the national colours in a country of over 170 million people”, he noted.
He challenged the current crop of Eagles to arrest the national team’s decline.
“Things are not going so well at the moment but it is also time for the players to take it upon themselves and rise to the occasion. I have a strong belief that this generation will even be greater given the abundance of young talented players coming through the ranks and the youth teams. I am happy the NFF has paid enough attention to the age-group teams. That is the way to go. There will never be shortage of talents. Watch out for the Super Eagles in future. A solid foundation is being laid,” he concluded.
YOBO’S 101 INTERNATIONAL CAPS
1.24/3/01 Zambia ACNq (Chingola) 1-1
2.21/4/01 Sierra Leone WCq (Freetown) 0-1
3.5/5/01 Liberia WCq (Port Harcourt) 2-0
4.2/6/01 Madagascar ACNq (Benin) 1-0
5.16/6/01 Namibia ACNq (Windhoek) 2-0
6.1/7/01 Sudan WCq (Omdurman) 4-0
7.29/7/01 Ghana WCq (Port Harcourt) 3-0
8.12/1/02 Cote d’Ivoire F (Bouake) 1-1
9.21/1/02 Algeria ACN (Bamako) 1-0
10.24/1/02 Mali ACN (Bamako) 0-0
11. 28/1/02 Liberia ACN (Mopti) 1-0
12.3/2/02 Ghana ACN (Bamako) 1-0
13. 7/2/02 Senegal ACN (Bamako) 1-2
14. 9/2/02 Mali ACN (Mopti) 1-0
15. 17/4/02 Scotland F (Aberdeen) 2-1
16. 16/5/02 Ireland F (Dublin) 2-1
17. 2/6/02 Argentina WC (Ibaraki) 0-1
18. 7/6/02 Sweden WC (Kobe) 1-2
19. 12/6/02 England WC (Osaka) 0-0
20. 29/3/03 Malawi ACNq (Blantyre) 1-0
21. 30/5/03 Ghana LG Cup (Abuja) 3-1
22. 1/6/03 Cameroun LG Cup (Lagos) (scored)3-0
23. 26/7/03 Venezuela F (Watford) 1-0
24. 27/1/04 Morocco ACN (Monastir) 0-1
25. 31/1/04 South Africa ACN (Monastir)(Scored)4-0
26. 4/2/02 Benin ACN (Sfax) 2-1
27. 8/2/04 Cameroun ACN (Monastir) 2-1
28. 11/2/04 Tunisia ACN (Rades) 3-6 (pen)
29. 13/2/04 Mali ACN (Monastir) 2-1
30. 5/6/04 Rwanda WCq (Abuja) 2-0
31. 20/6/04 Angola WCq (Luanda) 0-1
32. 3/7/04 Algeria WCq (Abuja) (scored) 1-0
33. 9/10/04 Gabon WCq (Libreville) 1-1
34. 26/3/05 Gabon WCq (Port Harcourt) 2-0
35. 5/6/05 Rwanda WCq (Kigali) 1-1
36. 18/6/05 Angola WCq (Kano) 1-1
37. 17/8/05 Libya F (Tripoli) 1-0
38. 4/9/05 Algeria WCq (Oran) 5-2
39. 8/10/05 Zimbabwe WCq (Abuja) 5-1
40. 23/1/06 Ghana ACN (Port Said) 1-0
41. 27/1/06 Zimbabwe ACN (Port Said) 2-0
42. 31/1/06 Senegal ACN (Port Said) 2-1
43. 4/2/06 Tunisia ACN (Port Said) 6-5 (pen)
44. 7/2/06 Cote d’Ivoire ACN (Alexandria) 0-1
45. 9/2/06 Senegal ACN (Cairo) 1-0
46. 2/9/06 Niger ACNq (Abuja) 2-0
47. 8/10/06 Lesotho ACNq (Maseru) 1-0
48. 6/2/07 Ghana F (London) 1-4
49. 24/3/07 Uganda ACNq (Abeokuta) 1-0
50. 2/6/07 Uganda ACNq (Kampala) 1-2
51. 8/9/07 Lesotho ACNq (Warri) 2-0
52. 21/1/08 Cote d’Ivoire ACN(Sekondi) 0-1
53. 25/1/08 Mali ACN (Sekondi) 0-0
54. 29/1/08 Benin ACN (Sekondi) 2-0
55. 3/2/08 Ghana ACN (Accra) 1-2
56. 27/5/08 Austria F (Graz) 1-1
57. 1/6/08 South Africa WCq (Abuja) 2-0
58. 7/6/08 Sierra Leone WCq (Freetown)(scored)1-0
59. 14/6/08 Eq.Guinea WCq (Malabo) (scored) 1-0
60. 21/6/08 Eq.Guinea WCq (Abuja) 2-0
61. 11/10/08 Sierra Leone WCq (Abuja) 4-1
62. 11/2/09 Jamaica F (London) 0-0
63. 29/6/09 Tunisia WCq (Rades) 0-0
64. 6/9/09 Tunisia WCq (Abuja) 2-2
65. 11/10/09 Mozambique WCq (Abuja) 1-0
66. 14/11/09 Kenya WCq (Nairobi) 3-2
67.6/1/10 Zambia F (Durban) 0-0
68. 12/1/10 Egypt ACN (Benguela) 1-3
69. 16/1/10 Benin ACN (Benguela) 1-0
70. 25/5/10 Saudi Arabia F (Austria) 0-0
71. 6/6/10 North Korea F (Jo’burg) 3-1
72. 12/6/10 Argentina WC (Jo’burg) 0-1
73. 17/6/10 Greece WC (Blomfoentin) 1-2
74. 22/6/10 South Korea WC (Durban) 2-2
75. 7/9/10 Madagascar ACNq (Calabar) 2-0
76. 10/10/10 Guinea ACNq (Conakry) 0-1
77. 9/2/11 Sierra Leone F (Lagos) 2-1
78. 27/3/11 Ethiopia ACNq (Abuja) 4-0
79. 29/3/11 Kenya F (Abuja) 3-0
80. 1/6/11 Argentina F (Abuja) 4-1
81. 5/6/11 Ethiopia ACNq (Addis Ababa)(scored)2-2
82. 4/9/11 Madagascar ACNq (Antananarivo)(scored)2-0
83. 8/10/11 Guinea ACNq (Abuja) 2-2
84. 11/10/11 Ghana F (London) 0-0
85. 12/11/11 Botswana F (Benin) 0-0
86. 15/11/11 Zambia F (Kaduna) 2-0
87. 28/2/12 Rwanda ACNq (Kigali) 0-0
88. 8/9/12 Liberia ACNq (Monrovia) 2-2
89. 9/1/13 Cape Verde F (Faro) 0-0
90. 21/1/13 Burkina Faso CAN (Nespruit) 1-1
91. 25/1/13 Zambia ACN (Rosenburg) 1-1
92. 3/2/13 Cote d’Ivoire ACN (Durban) 2-1
93. 6/3/13 Mali ACN (Jo’burg) 4-1
94. 10/2/13 Burkina Faso ACN (Jo’burg) 1-0
95. 28/5/14 Scotland F (London) 2-2
96. 4/6/14 Greece F (Philadelphia) 0-0
97. 7/6/14 USA F (Florida) 1-2
98. 16/6/14 Iran WC (Curitiba) 0-0
99. 21/6/14 Bosnia WC (Cuiaba) 1-0
100. 25/6/14 Argentina WC (Porto Alegri) 2-3
101 30/6/14 France WC (Brasilia) 0-2
