Stroke-ridden Junior Agogo cries: Now nobody gets in touch with me

Former Ghana striker Manuel ‘Junior’ Agogo says he has lost contact with his footballer friends since suffering a stroke two years ago.

The recuperating 38-year-old suffered a stroke in January 2015 after hanging up his boots.

A former player of English sides Nottingham Forest and Barnet, the ex-frontman is famously remembered for his exploits for Ghana at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, particularly the late winner against arch-rivals Nigeria in the quarter-finals.

“Now, nobody gets in touch with me,” Agogo said in a BBC documentary, when asked whether he is still in touch with the likes of Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o, whose framed jerseys adorn his walls in his home in the UK.

“I don’t know [if it is because I do not get in touch with them] because I used to talk to a couple of the boys in the national team but when the stroke happened, they all said no… because I couldn’t speak.”

Agogo’s biggest challenge with his current condition has been his struggle to put words together.

“Now, I’m anxious about language,” he said.

“I can find the words but I’m anxious [I may] get the word wrong. [It happens many times]. I want to speak like you [freely]… that’s all, that’s all.”

In all, Agogo netted 12 times in 27 matches for Ghana between 2006 and 2009.

He began his professional career with Sheffield Wednesday, who sent him out on loans to Oldham Athletic, Chester City, Chesterfield and Lincoln City.

The Accra-born then had a brief spell in the USA where he played for Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids and San Jose Earthquakes between 2000 and 2001.

Back in the UK, he was on the books of Queens Park Rangers, Barnet, Bristol Rovers and Nottingham Forest.

He then had short stints with Egyptian side Zamalek, Apollon Limassol in Cyprus and Scottish outfit Hibernian.