A 'wife' for Agogo

Page 21 Feb 5/2008

Story & Pix: Charles Benoni Okine

AN 82-year-old fan of Ghanaian striker Manuel Junior Agogo has offered his “very beautiful grand daughter” to the player in appreciation of his role in the Black Stars’ Nations Cup performance.
Agogo scored the only goal of the match when Ghana beat Namibia at the group stage of the competition and scored the winning goal against Nigeria in Sunday’s 2-1 victory of the Stars.
The old man who only gave his name as Nana told Agogo, “I came here last night with my very beautiful grand daughter to introduce her to you.”
“She is not here with me now because she wanted to pick something from town; son, when she comes, she is all yours,” he added.
Amazed at the comments of the old man, Agogo laughed loudly and remarked, “Thank you very much, I appreciate that and I am waiting to see her.”
“How do you feel about the sudden mention of your name all over the place,” the daily Graphic reporter asked, to which Agogo responded, “I feel nothing much because typical of us, today I may be the victor but tomorrow I may be the villain.”
This was when dozens of close relations, friends and fans of the senior national team, besieged the Fiesta Royal Hotel, the camp of the players, to either catch a glimpse of them or congratulate them the day after their victory over the Eagles of Nigeria.
As of 11 a.m., most of the anxious people, who mostly pretended to be guests of the hotel, had crowded the reception waiting for any of the players to pass by for them to have a photo opportunity or brief chat with them.
Among them were journalists from different parts of the world who also took advantage of the situation to conduct interviews.
It was all excitement and at the information desk of the reception were a pile of plain T-shirts with a felt pen beside them for each player who came by the area to autograph them.
Some of the ladies who did not have their T-shirts readily with them compelled the players to autograph the front of their dress close to their breast and the players were happy to do so, because it showed in their eyes while they did it.
It was a very relaxed atmosphere for the fans and the players as they exchanged pleasantries freely while the security men on guard looked on attentively to forestall any rush.
Visible among them were Michael Essien, Junior Agogo, team captain John ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ Mensah, who had the red card in the match against Nigeria, Dede Ayew, son of the soccer legend, Abedi Ayew Pele, the ‘famous’ Asamoah Gyan, Richard ‘Olele’ Kinston and the brother Laryea, aka Bro Laryea.
Junior Agogo said the team was waiting patiently to take on its next opponent.
He left to attend to other fans who also wanted him badly either for an interview or for photo opportunities.
Skipper John Mensah was also on hand to talk to the Daily Graphic and said he felt bad about the red card handed him by the Algerian Referee.
“I expected a card but not the red one so when I saw him raise it, I was taken aback; I felt really shocked because I wondered what was going to happen to my teammates,” he added.
“I am out but the morale in camp is still high and I know that my teammates are fired up to win the cup for the nation,” he added.
It was then the turn of Asamoah Gyan who could simply not tell why luck was not on his side in this game.
“I did all I could to score as expected but the ball would just not enter the net; However, I know I contributed meaningfully to ensure our successes in each game,” he added.
“I feel bad about the way I was chastised in the media and by fans: Eh today they have forgotten about me?” He said.
“But it is part of the game and I know that my time will come and it will be in style for Ghanaians to remember at all times.”