THE BIRTHDAY SHOW

Happy Birthday to former Julius Berger, Maccabi Haifa, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Guangzhou R&F, Al-Rayyan, Reading, Kayserispor and Coventry City striker Yakubu Ayegbeni who turns 37 today. At Maccabi Haifa, he, became the first  African and the fifth youngest player to score a UEFA Champions League hat-trick, netting all three goals in a 3-0 win over Greek side Olympiacos F.C. on 24 September 2002. He is the second highest African goalscorer in Premier League history with 96 goals. Capped 57 times by the Super Eagles, Yakubu is the third highest scorer in the history of the Nigeria national football team with 21 goals to his name. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Yakubu notably missed an open goal from three metres against South Korea in the last Group game, but later went on to score a penalty in an eventual 2-2 draw. The announced his retirement from football on 22 November 2017.

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A former midfielder, throughout his career he played for several German clubs, namely
Alemannia Aachen, Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, before ending his career with Canadian Major League Soccer side Toronto FC in February 2013.

In two spells(1997-2002, 2005-2011) with Werder Bremen, he 51 goals in 439 games, also three trophies. He also won three trophies with Bayern Munich, including the 2004/2005 German Bundesliga title.

At international level, he played 79 matches for the Germany national team, netting 10 goals between 2001 to 2009. He never won any major trophy with Germany, but was a member of "Die Mannschaft" squad who finished as runners-up at the 2002 World Cup and 2008 European Championship. He was also a member of the German squad who finished third at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2006 World Cup.

On 27 December 2016, the former Werder Bremen captain was appointed head coach of the then German Bundesliga side Darmstadt 98. He was relieved of his duties on 8 December 2017 after a record of nine wins, eight draws, and 19 losses.

Torsten Klaus Frings is 43 today.

He started his playing career with Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals, going on to represent  the likes of Udinese, Rennes, Sunderland, Al Ain, Shanghai SIPG and Kayserispor.

At Al Ain he scored 123 goals in 123 games between 2012 to 2015, also winning five trophies during his time with the club.

He is the youngest player to score a goal for Ghana(aged 17), netting on his international debut(versus Somalia) in November 2003. He is the all-time leading goalscorer and most capped player of the Ghana national team, with 51 goals in 109 caps. With 6 goals, he is the top African goalscorer in the history of the World Cup. He has also represented Ghana at the 2004 Summer Olympics and in seven Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017, helping them finish in third-place in 2008 and runner-up in 2010 and 2015. At the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, following Luis Suárez's handling of the ball on the goal-line, he missed a penalty kick with no time remaining at end of extra time , hitting the crossbar and necessitating a
penalty shootout to decide the game. He converted his kick in the subsequent penalty shootout, but Uruguay went on to win the shootout 4–2. For the second time in his career, he missed a crucial penalty kick in a major tournament when he missed a penalty kick in the 2012 African Cup of Nations semi-final. Ghana went on to lose 1–0. After missing that penalty kick, he decided to take an "indefinite break" from international football. On 8 May 2012, he announced his return to the Black Stars team.

The striker currently plays for Indian Super League club NorthEast United.

Asamoah is 34 today.

He had a nomadic youth career, playing for the likes of Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. Mons, R. Francs Borains, Sporting Charleroi and Standard Liège between 1994 to 2006.

He finally made his professional debut for Standard Liège in 2006, going on to score 11 goals in 84 games,  also winning the Belgian First Division A league title.

At Everton, he scored 33 goals in 177 games between 2008 to 2013.

He won four trophies with Manchester United, also netting 22 goals in 177 games between 2013 to 2019.

He was member of "Die Roten Teufel"(a nickname for the Belgium national team) side who finished third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 7 March 2019, he announced his retirement from international football. He earned a total of 87 caps and scored 18 goals for Belgium between 2007 and 2018.

He currently plays for Shandong Luneng Taishan in the Chinese Super League.

Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui is 32 today.

During his youth, he played for the
Millwall academy before joining non-League club Maidstone United . After establishing himself in the Maidstone United first team, he signed for Middlesbrough in May 2008. However, shortly after joining Boro, he  had his contract with the club cancelled after raising concerns over homesickness. Soon after, in June 2008, he signed for Premier League club Fulham . He helped them reach the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final the following season. He was not included in the matchday squad for the match, in which Fulham were beaten 2–1 after extra time by Atlético Madrid at the Volksparkstadion.

Since making his Manchester United debut in August 2010, he has scored 18 goals in 323 appearances, also winning eight trophies. Notably, he was the first player in the history of the Premier League to score two first-half goals as a substitute, netting twice after coming on as a 5th minute substitute for injured Phil Jones in a 3-1 win over Burnley on 11 February 2015. This entered him into the Guinness Book of Records for "the fastest goal in the Premier League by a substitute from kick-off" and "the most goals in the Premier League scored by a subtitute in the first half".

At international level, he has scored once in 31 caps for England.

He currently plays for AS Roma(on loan from Manchester United).

Christopher Lloyd Smalling is 30 today.

He has previously played for TP Mazembe , Anderlecht , VfL Wolfsburg, Monaco , Standard Liège , Norwich City(loan), Hull City(loan) and Dynamo Kyiv. He has scored 159 goals in 381 club career games. He is Democratic Republic of Congo's all-time leading goalscorer with 18 goals in 41 caps.

He currently plays for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian First Division A.

Dieudonné "Dieumerci" Mbokani Bezua is 34 today.