Shearer poor one-on-one — Yakubu

Former Nigerian Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has ignited discussion after ranking Thierry Henry above Alan Shearer in his all-time Premier League goalscorer preference, while also claiming Shearer was not as effective in one-on-one situations against goalkeepers. On the Head2Head Clubhouse podcast, Yakubu lauded Shearer's goal-scoring prowess and records, but argued that Henry boasted superior individual ability, technique, pace, and overall quality.

He stated, "One-on-one he's poor. Scoring goals, he's unbelievable, don't get it twisted, you know, he's a proper number nine, but my all-time Premier League striker is Thierry Henry, he's special." This assertion is particularly noteworthy given Yakubu's own history of high-profile misses, notably an open-net failure for Nigeria against South Korea during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

With Nigeria trailing 2-1 and needing a victory to advance, Yakubu's shot from close range, where the goalkeeper was beaten, has been widely criticized as the worst miss he has ever seen. Despite failing to score the equalizing penalty in that game, Yakubu ultimately helped Nigeria to a 2-2 draw, which ultimately cost them their place in the second round.

Despite the criticism from that incident, Yakubu, who netted 21 goals in 58 appearances for Nigeria, has always maintained that his miss should not overshadow his overall impact on Nigerian football.