Sixty six minutes into Nigeria's last group game in Durban, the ball ran across the six yard box. Yakubu Aiyegbeni, with the goal gaping, steered it wide.
He scored a penalty three minutes later. The match with South Korea ended 2-2 and the Super Eagles left South Africa with one point from three games.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Tournament | 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa |
| Coach | Lars Lagerbäck |
| Group | B, with Argentina, Greece and South Korea |
| Results | Lost 1-0, lost 2-1, drew 2-2 |
| Finish | Fourth in the group, 1 point |
| Nigeria's scorers | Kalu Uche (2), Yakubu Aiyegbeni (pen) |
| Red card | Sani Kaita, 33rd minute against Greece |
The miss that stuck
Nigeria started brightly at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Chidi Odiah beat two defenders on the right and crossed low. Kalu Uche fired home in the 12th minute, the Associated Press reported. Korea hit back. Lee Jung-soo volleyed in a Ki Sung-yong free kick before the break, and Park Chu-young curled another free kick around the wall four minutes after it, which meant Nigeria needed two goals and had barely half an hour to find them.
Uche had already hit the post.
Then came the 66th minute. Yakubu later told Guangzhou R&F's website, as quoted by TheCable: “I couldn't believe it, I was standing there laughing, laughing at myself.” He levelled from the spot after Kim Nam-il fouled Chinedu Obasi. It was not enough. Nigeria were out. In 2021 he was still defending himself. “I don't need to say sorry to Nigerians. I did not do it on purpose. People miss chances,” he said. He has returned to it more than once, as when he said people have refused to forget the goal he missed.
Lagerbäck stayed measured. “I was disappointed about all those chances. But the players have done really well,” the Swede said. Then he added: “We did as much as we could.”
Lagerbäck's 23
No home-based player made the cut. Wikipedia's squad listing records Nigeria as the only team at the tournament without a player from a domestic club.
| Player | Position | Club in 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Vincent Enyeama | GK | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| Joseph Yobo | DF | Everton |
| Taye Taiwo | DF | Marseille |
| Nwankwo Kanu | FW | Portsmouth |
| Rabiu Afolabi | DF | Red Bull Salzburg |
| Danny Shittu | DF | Bolton Wanderers |
| John Utaka | FW | Portsmouth |
| Yakubu Aiyegbeni | FW | Everton |
| Obafemi Martins | FW | VfL Wolfsburg |
| Brown Ideye | FW | Sochaux |
| Peter Odemwingie | FW | Lokomotiv Moscow |
| Kalu Uche | FW | Almería |
| Ayila Yussuf | MF | Dynamo Kyiv |
| Sani Kaita | MF | Alania Vladikavkaz |
| Lukman Haruna | MF | Monaco |
| Austin Ejide | GK | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| Chidi Odiah | DF | CSKA Moscow |
| Victor Obinna | FW | Málaga |
| Chinedu Obasi | FW | 1899 Hoffenheim |
| Dickson Etuhu | MF | Fulham |
| Elderson Echiéjilé | DF | Rennes |
| Dele Adeleye | DF | Sparta Rotterdam |
| Dele Aiyenugba | GK | Bnei Yehuda |
Argentina, Greece and a costly kick
Ellis Park, 12 June. Gabriel Heinze met a Juan Sebastián Verón corner with a diving header in the sixth minute. That was the only goal, largely because Vincent Enyeama spent the evening denying Lionel Messi, tipping one chip over the bar and turning away two more efforts before half time.
Five days later came Bloemfontein. Uche curled in a free kick in the 16th minute and Nigeria led Greece. In the 33rd, with the ball already out of play, Sani Kaita kicked out at Vasilis Torosidis. Referee Óscar Ruiz showed red. Ten men then conceded to Dimitris Salpingidis before the interval and to Torosidis in the 71st minute after an error by Enyeama.
“I think the sending off played a big part in the game,” captain Joseph Yobo admitted.
Kaita apologised at once. “I apologise to everyone,” he said, naming the Nigerian people, the officials and his teammates. Within days team spokesman Peterside Idah confirmed that the midfielder had received more than 1,000 threatening emails. Kaita stayed calm: “Only god decides who lives and who dies.” Years later, Kaita said he was still confused about the red card.
Banned, then unbanned
The fallout reached Aso Rock. On Wednesday 30 June 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan withdrew Nigeria's national teams from FIFA and CAF competitions for two years. FIFA set a deadline of 6pm on Monday 5 July. Miss it, and Nigeria faced suspension from all its activities. The NFF moved first. On the Sunday it dismissed nine officials, among them president Sani Lulu and vice president Amanze Ugbulam. The presidency rescinded the ban by letter shortly before the deadline, and a source there told Reuters the reversal “was due to pleading by many Nigerians.”
Where some of them are now
Yobo was a draw assistant in Rabat in January 2025 for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. “I think we have the players and a wonderful new coach to do that,” he told CAF.
Kanu, named Enyimba chairman by the Abia State Government in July 2023, was still cheering the Eagles publicly in November 2025 ahead of their World Cup playoff final against DR Congo. Yakubu, now 43, works the podcast circuit. In April 2026 he discussed his old club Everton on Clutch 9 Football.
Four years after South Africa, a very different group went to Brazil, as our piece on the Nigeria 2014 World Cup squad shows.
This article was most recently revised and updated 22 seconds ago
