Mathew Yakubu’s unlikely journey from West Africa to Central Europe
When Mathew Yakubu left Zaria, Nigeria, in 2019, he couldn’t have known that a small Slovak town would become the heart of his story. Six years later, the 26-year-old goalkeeper is chasing promotion to the top flight with Dukla Banská Bystrica — and raising a family in the country he now calls home.
Raised by a single mother after losing his father at six, Yakubu learned resilience early. “She worked day and night to feed us,” he told Slovak daily Pravda. “She always said, ‘If you want to play football, go for it.’”
Ironically, Yakubu started out as a striker, only becoming a goalkeeper when his team’s keeper missed training. “I conceded a few, but I loved it,” he laughs. His growing talent led him from Kaduna to Clique Sports Academy in Lagos, and later to Nigeria’s Under-20 national team, where he narrowly missed the 2019 World Cup but impressed scouts from ŠKF Sereď, a Slovak top-flight side.
He signed immediately — and landed straight into a cultural shock. “I arrived in February — freezing! I thought about turning around at the airport,” he recalls. But the warmth of the people in Sereď made him stay. It’s also where he met the Slovak woman who became his wife, with whom he now has twin daughters and a baby son.
His journey hasn’t been without setbacks. A serious knee injury sidelined him for 18 months and required three surgeries. “It was terrible. I lost myself for a while. But my family — Slovak and Nigerian — helped me through.”
Now, with Banská Bystrica sitting top of the Slovak second tier, Yakubu has conceded just ten goals in fourteen games and is targeting promotion. “We want to be back in the first league — and I believe we can do it.”
He still dreams of another Super Eagles call-up, but his biggest goal lies beyond football:
“I want to bring my mum to Slovakia — to meet my wife and our kids, to see the life I’ve built here. That would mean everything.”
