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Everton striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni said the honour of being named Nigeria captain for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against South Africa has given him extra motivation to win silverware with his club.

Aiyegbeni steps into the role for the Group Four game in Port Elizabeth after the withdrawal through injury of Nwankwo Kanu and Joseph Yobo.

"It is a great honour to captain your country, I feel it is recognition for my service over the years. Obviously there is added responsibility but it does not take away from my job and that is to score goals," Aiyegbeni told Reuters.

He added it would spur him to achieve success with his Premier League team.

"I want to score more, that's my target, but I also have an ambition to win a trophy with the club this season. I'm very pleased that Everton has bought some new players to boost up our squad," he said.

Nigeria have already secured top place in their African zone qualifying, rendering Saturday's result academic for them.

Although South Africa are already qualified for the World Cup finals as hosts, they are participating in the preliminaries because they also serve to determine the 16 finalists for the 2010 African Cup of Nations finals in Angola.

South Africa must win Saturday's encounter to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the final phase of qualifiers next year.

Aiyegbeni was surprised by team mates after Nigeria's final training session ahead of the qualifier as they doused him in a shower of water and soft drinks.

"It's a great feeling to have this sort of recognition from my team mates," he said.

Reuters