By Mark Gleeson
PORT ELIZABETH, Sept 5 - Everton striker Yakubu
Aiyegbeni said the honour of being named Nigeria captain for
Saturday's World Cup qualifier against South Africa had given
him extra motivation to win silverware with his club.
Aiyegbeni steps into the role for the Group Four game in
Port Elizabeth after the withdrawal through injury of Nwankwo
Kanu and Joseph Yobo.
"It is a great honour to captain your country, I feel it is
recognition for my service over the years. Obviously there is
added responsibility but it does not take away from my job and
that is to score goals," Aiyegbeni told Reuters on Friday.
He added it would spur him to achieve success with his
English Premier League team.
"I want to score more, that's my target, but I also have an
ambition to win a trophy with the club this season. I'm very
pleased that Everton has bought some new players to boost up our
squad," he said.
Nigeria have already secured top place in their African zone
qualifying, rendering Saturday's result academic for them.
Although South Africa are already qualified for the World
Cup finals as hosts, they are participating in the preliminaries
because they also serve to determine the 16 finalists for the
2010 African Nations Cup finals in Angola.
South Africa must win Saturday's encounter to keep alive
their hopes of progressing to the final phase of qualifiers next
year.
Aiyegbeni was surprised by team mates after Nigeria's final
training session ahead of the qualifier as they doused him in a
shower of water and soft drinks.
"It's a great feeling to have this sort of recognition from
my team mates," he said.
(Editing by Sonia Oxley)