Former Super Eagles and Ex-Everton forward, Yakubu Ayegbeni has put an end to speculation linking him with management.
The 37-year-old had been connected with coaching following his involvement with the Nigeria U-20 team.
Preparing for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland, ‘the Yak’ teamed up with the Flying Eagles in Munich while offering to drill Paul Aigbogun’s forwards.
However, the ex-Nigeria international claims he has no plans to venture into coaching, saying he is happy with his role at FIFA.
“I don’t want to be coach,” the former Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Leicester City man said.
“I went to the U20 camp in Munich before they went to Poland. There, I stayed for over a week and passed my message to the young footballers.
“I even coached the strikers a little bit and I am always ready to help out when I’m needed but coaching is not for me.
“I enjoy what I’m doing now than coaching, but, I can come in whenever I’m needed to speak to the boys and pass my knowledge to the upcoming players.
“I was in the national team for ten years and I had a great time there, good or bad.
“For me, to be invited to speak with the U-15s, U-17s and U-20s will be nice and I will be willing to help in the future. But as a coach, that’s not for me.”
Currently, Ayegbeni is one of the FIFA ambassadors who help to take the beautiful game to distressed countries in conjunction with the FIFA Legends Programme.
He shared his experience and provided some insight into his role as it concerns giving hope to future stars.
“I’ve been travelling around with FIFA,” he continued.
“We were once at Malawi and the last time, I went to Tsonga, I’ve been with them [FIFA] for almost a year now.
“I enjoy working with FIFA and being one of their ambassadors is great. You meet people; you try to pass a message to the upcoming players.
“It’s not really about football alone because you meet with people from other sports, encouraging them to follow their dreams.
“Having a chance talking these boys from the street, speaking to them to follow their passion is like a dream come
Yakubu is the first Nigerian to score a Champions League hat-trick, thanks to his treble for Maccabi Haifa against Olympiakos in the 2002–03 season.
After an impressive spell in Israel, he joined Portsmouth where he helped Pompey earn promotion to the English Premier League.
His 28 English elite division goals between his two seasons for Harry Redknapp’s men make him Portsmouth’s highest ever scorer in the Premier League, with nine more than their second-highest scorer, Benjani Mwaruwari.
On the international scene, he featured in three Africa Cup of Nations finals and is Nigeria’s third-highest all-time goal scorer with 21 goals from 57 caps.
