Yusif Yakubu (born 4 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He scored a total of 148

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

goals from 2000 to 2014,Time to regain lost glory
''Telegraph India''. Retrieved 22 September 2021 and is regarded as one of the best foreigners in history of

football in India Association football, Football in India has historically been among the top 3 most popular sport in terms of players participation and TV viewership, together with long time number one cricket and re-emerging kabaddi. India's current top domest ...

Career

Yakubu was born in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...

, in 1976, and began his youth football career in Ghanaian side

Hearts of Oak Hearts most commonly refers to: * Hearts (card game), a trick-taking game * Hearts (suit), one of the standard four suits of cards * Heart, an organ Hearts may also refer to: Music * The Hearts, an American girl group closely related to the Jay ...

in 1997. He later moved to

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League ( ar, الدوري المصري الممتاز), also known as WE Egyptian Premier League (WE EPL) after the addition of title sponsor WE, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the top level of th ...

side

Al Ahly SC AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in 1998 and played until 2000, before settling in Indian clubs permanently. Before joining

Kingfisher East Bengal East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

, he had played for the

clubs

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

and

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, befo ...

. From 2001 to 2005, he scored 65 goals in 103 league matches with Churchill Brothers, finishing

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

's top scorer twice. He scored his first NFC hat-trick with Churchill on 5 March 2004 against Indian Bank RC in a 4–1 win. In one season with Mahindra United, he won

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

and NFL. With

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, Yakubu formed an impressive partnership with

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

, and scored nine goals in the

2008–09 I-League The I-League 2008–2009 season began on 26 September 2008 and finished on 16 April 2009 with a break in December for the Federation Cup and Durand Cup. Most games this season were played on Saturday's and Sunday's to attract larger crowds. Af ...

. He was part of the team's friendly matches of Myanmar tour, against

Myanmar National League The MPT Myanmar National League ( my, မြန်မာ နေရှင်နယ် လိဂ်; abbreviated MNL) is the premier national professional football league of Myanmar. In 2009, the league replaced the Myanmar Premier League, which co ...

teams, in which they won two, drew one and lost one. He is one of the all-time top scorer in Indian League and has scored 100 goals in the top tier of Indian football. On 26 May 2010, left East Bengal Club and signed for

Salgaocar SC Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Founded in 1956, the cl ...

. From 2011 to 2012, he appeared with Prayag United and was in the squad that emerged as runners-up of

2012 IFA Shield 2012 IFA Shield began on 3 March 2012. Pune FC along with six other I-League teams participated in the 116th edition. Brazilian Série A famous team Botafogo came here to participate in the 116th edition of the Shield. Groups In Group 'A', Eas ...

. He is considered as one of the finest foreign football players in the history of Indian Club football. In 2012, he moved to

Mumbai FC Mumbai Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competed in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system, alongside the MDFA Elite League. It was founded in 2007, with the o ...

and with ''the Mumbaikars'', he scored his first hat-trick in

against

in a 4–2 win on 13 April 2014. In the

2014–15 I-League The 2014–15 I-League (known as the ''Hero I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 17 Januar ...

season, they managed to acquire sixth position. In January 2016, Yakubu moved to another

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

-based side Mohammedan Sporting. On 7 August 2017, it was announced that Yakubu would return to India to sign for

for their

Goa Professional League The Goa Professional League (abbreviated as GPL, also known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level football league in Goa, India. It is organised by the Goa Football Association. History The official l ...

campaign.

Honours

Al Ahly *

: 1999–2000 Churchill Brothers *

: 2001–02 Mahindra United *

: 2005–06 *

Federation Cup (India) The Federation Cup (also known as Hero Federation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was an annual knockout football competition in Indian football which started in 1977. From its inception, until I-League was started in 1997 (then called NFL), it ...

: 2005 *

Indian Super Cup AIFF Super Cup, also called the Super Cup or Hero Super Cup (for sponsorship ties), is an annual knockout football competition in Indian football. It is organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Competition is open to the clubs ...

: 2006 East Bengal *Federation Cup: 2009–10, 2010 *

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is off ...

: 2010 Salgaocar *Federation Cup:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Prayag United *

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

: runner-up

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield tourn ...

: runner-up 2012 Individual *

golden boot: 2001–02 (''with 18 goals''), 2002–03 (''with 21 goals'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubu, Yusif Living people 1976 births Footballers from Kumasi Ghanaian men's footballers Men's 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 FC players East Bengal Club players Salgaocar FC players United SC players Mumbai FC players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India Calcutta Football League players

Career

Honours

References

Further reading

External links