Abubakari Yakubu (; 13 December 1981 – 31 October 2017) was a Ghanaian

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 lea ...

who played mainly as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

but also as a defender.

Club career

Born in

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most p ...

, Yakubu joined

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

at only 17, going on to remain in the Netherlands for one full decade. He made his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

debut on 19 April 2000, playing 50 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

and finishing his first season with only five matches. Yakubu played in an average of 15 league games in the following four years, going on to make 89 competitive appearances and helping the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

side to two national championships and the 2001–02 edition of the

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

. During the 2002–03 campaign, he featured in five matches in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, in a quarter-final run that ended at the hands of eventual champions

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

; he spent 2004–05 on loan to fellow league team Vitesse. In the ensuing off-season, Yakubu signed permanently with the latter club for four more years, being intermittently used during four seasons and released in the summer of 2009. In early October, he had an unsuccessful trial with

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

from Germany.

International career

Yakubu played for

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

at every youth level, having represented the nation at under-17, under-20 and under-23 levels. He earned 16 full

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, being part of the

Ratomir Dujković Ratomir Dujković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратомир Дујковић; born 24 February 1946) is a Serbian football manager and a former player. Playing career Born and raised in Borovo Naselje to an ethnic Serb family, Dujković attended Ivan ...

-led side at the

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split int ...

in which they suffered a group stage exit. Yakubu also took part in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

qualifying stage Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

, helping his country to a first-ever presence in the competition but being omitted from the final squad.

Death

On 31 October 2017, Yakubu died at the Tema General Hospital in his native city at the age of 35, after battling an undisclosed illness.

Honours

Ajax *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2001–02 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

References

External links

Stats
at Voetbal International. . * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubu, Abubakari 1981 births 2017 deaths Footballers from Tema Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players SBV Vitesse players Ghana men's international footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Great Mariners F.C. players 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen