My Goals Against Nigeria Most Cherished - Agogo

GHANAIAN international, Manuel Junior Agogo has said that his goals against Nigeria marked the highest point in his career.

Agogo scored against Nigeria last year in London during an international friendly the Black Stars won by 4-1.

He also emerged the match winner when he scored Ghana's second goal in a 2-1 win over Eagles last month in one of the quarterfinals of Ghana 2008.

“Honestly you can't beat my feelings when I score against Nigeria,” Agogo told Happy FM, an Accra-based radio station.

“I've scored a lot of goals in my career but the ones against Nigeria are the most memorable because Nigeria is one of the best teams in the world, not minding the difficulty they are in now.”

Recalling his first goal against the Eagles, the Nothingham Forest striker said the goal was a stroke of luck. “I gate-crashed into the Ghana team when they had a friendly game against Nigeria last year. I was just invited to try my luck in a big game and fortunately, I scored through my first touch. From then on, I think I got the confidence I could perform at the highest level, many thanks to Claude LeRoy,” he said.

At the Nations Cup, Agogo recalled he could not sleep the night he scored Ghana's winning goal against Nigeria. “I was injured so also was Asamoah Gyan. The degree of my injury was less than that of Gyan but he is the more experienced player. We could not afford to fail Ghanaians at the quarterfinal, so I thought to myself I had to do a lot more for the team and I was happy I scored.”

After the heroics against Nigeria; the striker explained that he savoured the rave reviews that naturally followed it. “You know the media can be creative. When I got the goal against Nigeria, some journalists suggested I should change my name to Senior Agogo because they believe no Junior Agogo could score against the Eagles. It is funny but I enjoyed every bit of it.”

He rates Cameroun's captain Rigobert Song as the toughest defender he came across at Ghana 2008. “Song was top quality.

He matched me pace-for-pace and tackled fairly throughout. I concede more respect to him after the semifinal encounter.”

The striker dreams of joining compatriots, John Paintsil, Sulley Ali Muntari and Michael Essien at the top of English division but adds that his priorities lie with Nothingham Forest.

“Forest is a great club with fantastic fans. I look forward to a big lift for the club. My name has been mentioned with big clubs but nothing concrete has materialised. So for now, it is Forest on my mind.”