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Agogo saves Ghana, Ivory Coast cruises

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His name is Junior Agogo, which may sound familiar to some MLS die-hards and Nottingham Forest fans but not many others outside of Ghana. Well, the same striker who played for three MLS teams in two seasons before leaving the league managed to score a game-winning goal in the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals.

Agogo saved the hosts, Ghana, when he tapped home a Sulley Muntari pass in the 83rd minute to help give Ghana a 2-1 victory against Nigeria. The win moves the ANC hosts into the semifinals, where Ghana will meet the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Cameroon and Tunisia on Thursday.

In the day’s other ANC quarterfinal, Ivory Coast shredded underdog Guinea, 5-0, with Chelsea tandem Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou combining for three goals. The Ivorians will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Egypt and Angola.

Agogo’s MLS career consisted of a one-game stint with the Chicago Fire before being traded to Colorado. His time with the Rapids was more successful, as he scored 15 goals for Colorado during the course of two seasons before being dealt to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001. He was on the roster for San Jose’s first MLS Cup title but left the league soon after.

The loss ended a disappointing tournament for the Nigerians, which boasted some of the most well-known players in the tournament. It is still a bit mind-boggling that Nigeria could struggle so badly to score goals yet have the luxury of leaving Obafemi Martins and John Utaka on the bench. Neither saw the field today.

Nigeria actually opened the scoring on a Yakubu penalty kick but Ghana’s Super Man, Michael Essien, headed home an equalizer just before halftime. Things looked grim for Ghana when John Mensah was issued a red card in the 60th minute but Nigeria failed to capitalize on the man advantage.

Comments

  1. I remember Junior. What I remember is that the Rapids came out with their skin-tight jerseys while he played for them and the jerseys made him look fat. (and he’s not fat). I wondered how I would have looked in a jersey like that.

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  2. I live in Phoenix and could not care less about the No Fun League. Now, bring me back the days when they did not penalize you for looking cross-eyed at the quarterback, when the quarterbacks called their own plays, and preferably, players went both ways, then maybe …

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  3. About the olympic team soccer .. Freddy Adu (S.L. Benfica) ,Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen) ,Greg Dalby (R. Charleroi S.C.) ,Benny Feilhaber (Derby County F.C.) ,Gabriel Ferrari (U.C. Sampdoria) ,Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa F.C.) ,Lee Nguyen (Randers) ,Steve Purdy (TSV 1860 München) ,Johann Smith (Bolton Wanderers F.C.) ,Jonathan Spector (West Ham United F.C), Neven Subotić (1. FSV Mainz 05) , Danny Szetela (Brecia calcio) , Quentin Westberg (Troyes AC) ,Preston Zimmerman (Hamburger SV) ,Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96) … where are them ?

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  4. My daily, in other news….
    GIANTS BABY!!!!! AND I WAS THERE IN GLENDALE TO SOAK IT ALL IN….I’m not sure how I’m going to sleep the rest of the year….
    GO BIG BLUE.

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  5. I wanted to make a decent contribution here, but all I can say is I’m happy for Junior remembering his MLS days, and…

    GO BIG BLUE.

    Sorry for the off topic.

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  6. This was Agogo’s second goal of the tournament and he’s been in the starting lineup throughout. he was a goal scoring machine in the lower English divisions the last couple of years. I don’t get how he couldn’t get off the Earthquakes’ bench.

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  7. I remember him when he played for the Rapids. I actually met him and have his autograph. Was really shocked when I read this, I had no idea he was even still playing.

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  8. Two words: Bertie Vogts.

    He’s a one man team wrecking crew. SCotland under Vogts lost to the likes of the Faroes. (Population appx. 50,000 people — not counting seals and whales) Under Smith and McLeish, they beat the likes of France and streched Italy to the limit.

    Vogts lack of ability is Sampsonesque …

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