Agogo's Ring Of Confidence

No matter what the weather, a group of hardy, determined souls huddle around the players' entrance at the City Ground after every home game, in the hope of an autograph or a picture with their Forest heroes. But, as impressive as their dedication might be, as they brave the wind and rain, it pales to insignificance in comparison to the way they do things in Africa . As Junior Agogo has just found out first hand, if you have a good game in Ghana, you can expect a very different post-match welcome. In the striker's case, that meant a loyal fan waiting patiently in the hotel reception for him, before making him a very generous offer - his grand-daughter's hand in marriage. But for Agogo, that was just the tip of the iceberg, as the whole nation threw their weight behind Ghana's bid for success in the African Cup of Nations . "It was manic over there, you would not believe what it was like," said Agogo. "The country really got behind us, it was mad being there, because the support we got was incredible. "A guy offered me his daughter, I did not know what to say. He had waited in the hotel reception to see him and then said that I could marry her. "It is nice to have that kind of adulation, but I did not know what to say to him. He said that he would like me to marry his daughter, but I had to be polite about it, I had to say thanks very much, but no. "What do you say to a man when he offers you that? I did not want to offend him. "It was a totally different world over there, I could not do anything, I could not leave the hotel. We had security guards all around the hotel. "Even on our days off we were stuck in our rooms, because there were thousands of fans outside the hotel all of the time. "It has been like that in the past, when I have played for Ghana, but not to this extent. It was just mad, I can't explain how it feels." Agogo is happy to be back on English soil, if only to take a step out of the intense spotlight in Africa and back into the relative calm of the City Ground. "It is nice to be back, because I hadn't seen my team mates, I hadn't seen my friends back here and I just hadn't had any time to myself," he said. "It is so demanding out there, they didn't care if you were tired or wanted to rest, there was always somebody who wanted to talk to you, who wanted to take your picture. "The big thing was the weather, because it was so hot. But we were also playing with world class players and the whole world was watching. "You don't really have a minute to take it all in. People always say that you don't take things in until the day after, but I don't feel I have had the chance to absorb things yet, because when the next day came it felt like there was always another match to prepare for." Ghana's hopes of winning the tournament were scotched at the semi-final stage, when they were edged out 1-0 by Cameroon. But the highpoint for Agogo came in the previous round, when he scored the winning goal to seal a remarkable win over fierce rivals Nigeria, despite having been reduced to ten men, following the sending-off of skipper John Mensah. "Beating the Nigerians was good, because there is a big rivalry between Ghanaians and Nigerians and I have loads of Nigerian mates," he said. "To beat them in the way that we did, coming back from a goal behind, when we were a man down, was special. "It was a good experience, it would have been better if we had won it. We know it could have been different, with a bit more luck. "We would have preferred to have won, because once we had beaten Nigeria we felt that we could. It was nice to get three goals, hopefully I can build on that in the future. "I think we are emerging as a nation, I definitely think that, with a full team, we can be a force to be reckoned with. "If we had Steven Appiah and John Mensah, who was suspended for the semi-final, we would have won the tournament. All of the African countries are becoming stronger, I hope that an African nation can make a big challenge when the next World Cup comes around." Agogo's focus is now very much on helping to take the club closer to some glory of their own. "It is nice to be back home. I am fit and ready to play for Forest, if I am selected , I am ready to go," he said. We need to build some momentum now, because we are coming up against the teams who are up there and around us. "If we can take points off them it will obviously do us plenty of good. I still think we are looking for the top two, not just second. Part of my season is over, but now I am back here and my aim is to help Forest win promotion." Meanwhile, Agogo is likely to be offered nothing more glamorous than a pen - rather than a wife - today, to sign a few autographs. Although, if he does help Forest win promotion, you never know how grateful Reds fans might be.