Former Fire, Rapids, Quakes striker Junior Agogo passes away at age 40

Junior Agogo - Ghana - solo shot

Former Ghana national team and Major League Soccer striker Junior Agogo died unexpectedly on Thursday, just weeks after his 40th birthday.

Agogo spent two productive seasons in MLS in 2000 and 2001, scoring 15 goals in 47 appearances overall. That included 10 goals for the 2000 Colorado Rapids after they acquired him that season from the Chicago Fire.


He finished his MLS tenure in 2001 with the San Jose Earthquakes, where he scored his last four MLS goals.



Internationally, Agogo received 17 caps from Ghana and scored seven goals, all in either the African Cup of Nations or World Cup qualifying, according to Transfermarkt.


He spent the majority of his professional career in the UK, scoring 35 goals across two League Two seasons with Bristol Rovers, and later hitting the net 13 times to help Nottingham Forrest earn promotion from League One in the 2007-08 campaign.


He retired in 2012 after spending the final year of his career with Edinburgh-based Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.



Agogo had suffered a stroke in 2015 which made him the focus of a BBC documentary film "Speechless," chronicling his struggles to converse in later life.