'Everton made me Joseph Yobo' - Nigeria assistant coach

Nigeria assistant coach Joseph Yobo has singled out his former club Everton for making him popular in the world.

The 41-year-old initially joined the Toffees on loan from Marseille for the 2002-03 season, which was made permanent at the end of the season.

Yobo broke into David Moyes' squad immediately and he made himself a key player in their defence with 220 Premier League appearances under his belt and eight goals to his name in the competition.

He left Everton for a season-long loan at Fenerbahce in 2010, which was first extended a year later and it was made permanent in August 2012.

The Super Eagles legend described his Goodison Park exit as a ‘painful moment’ but he backed his decision to move to Turkey by winning the Super Lig title in his first season and he claimed the Turkish Cups in subsequent campaigns with the Yellow Canaries.

“Leaving Everton was a sad and painful moment,” Yobo told Everton’s website. “But I was driven by me being me.

“It wasn’t about Everton, it was about how I was built. After a couple of games, I couldn’t believe how much I liked it. I loved Everton so much, it was like a marriage.

“But I went to Fenerbahce and won medals. When you finish your career… you want medals to show your children.

“Everton showed me to the world, they made me Joseph Yobo.”

The former Nigeria international also recalled the support he received from the Toffees when his brother, Norum was kidnapped in Rivers State in July 2008 which made him leave England to secure his release.

“It was the biggest shock of my life,” he continued. “That people, because of your success, wanted to hurt your family. When I dug deep, I realised it was people who knew us, who set it up for their own selfish interests.

“It was a terrible moment and affected me a lot. I came home [to Rivers State] and the kidnappers called me asking for a ransom. They said they didn’t know he was my brother, at first. It is like a chain, people coming together, they didn’t know how to break it when they realised.

“Every day they made sure I spoke to my brother and that gave me hope that nothing bad was going to happen.

"My teammates rallied around and the club was completely behind me. The Chairman and the gaffer were regularly on the phone. That is why my love for Everton is immeasurable.”

On his current job, as an assistant to Gernot Rohr in the Super Eagles coaching crew, Yobo disclosed that it is one of the most demanding positions in Nigeria.

“National team head coach is one of the biggest jobs in Nigeria,” the former Marseille star added.

“It would be a privilege and honour if, someday, I could be in that position. If I didn’t think about it that way, why start? I had that conversation [with his country’s FA]… now I have to understudy to learn.”