1991 West Adelaide Weight 82 kg 1990 Salisbury United Height 1.84 m | Years Team Role Footballer Playing position Name Paul Agostino Position Forward | |
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Date of birth (1975-06-09) 9 June 1975 (age 40) Similar People Roman Tyce, Michael Hofmann, Harald Cerny, Patrick Ghigani, Torben Hoffmann | ||
Place of birth Adelaide, Australia | ||
Paul Agostino (born 9 June 1975 in Adelaide, Australia) is a retired Australian footballer who played as a striker. He played the majority of his club football outside Australia, most notably with 1860 Munich in Germany for ten years. He played 18 times for Australia, winning the OFC Nations Cup of the year 2000.
Contents
- Club career
- Overseas
- Adelaide United
- International career
- Career statistics
- National team statistics
- International goals
- Country
- References
Agostino attended Findon High School in his hometown of Adelaide. In 2011 he returned to Munich, where his wife Monika was born, with a view to settle there permanently. There he has since partnered with his former 1860 team mate Roman Tyce and opened a soccer school called MunichSoccerCamp.
Club career
Having started his club career at Salisbury United, the South Australian striker burst on to the national scene in 1991 in his first season at senior level with West Adelaide SC NSL. It was at this time that "Aga" was picked in the Australian World Youth Championships squad – a squad which contained the likes of Paul Okon and Mark Bosnich during one of Australia's 'Golden Generations' – which made the semi-finals of that competition.
Overseas
Agostino left for Europe in 1992 and headed for Switzerland, where he signed with Young Boys. Agostino stayed in Bern for two seasons which was invaluable in enabling him to adapt to European life and football. It was in Switzerland that he learnt to speak German which would later help his move to Germany in 1997. He then had a short stint with Yverdon before making the move to England. Agostino signed with Bristol City in 1995 and it was in his second season with Bristol City that he began to score more regularly, bagging 16 goals in the old Division 1 (the second-tier of English club football).
After two productive seasons in Bristol, Agostino's growing reputation caught the eye of German Bundesliga side 1860 Munchen. He was signed by the club in 1997 at the age of 22. Agostino stayed with the Munich club for a full decade, enduring spells both in and out of the side. Agostino played at the highest level while in Munich, representing 1860 in both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. He enjoyed his best form for 1860 in the 2000–01 season, scoring 12 goals for the light blues, while Agostino regularly featured in the first team from 1999 to 2002. He fell down the pecking order at 1860 after this and typically played only a handful of games each season until it was revealed that he would be leaving the club on amicable terms at the end of the 2006–07 2. Bundesliga season.
Adelaide United
It was announced in February 2007 that A-League team Adelaide United had agreed on a two-year contract with Agostino which saw the striker return to his home city for the first time in 15 years. It was announced on 30 December 2008 that Agostino would retire at the end of the 2008–09 season.
International career
Agostino debuted in 1996 in a match against Chile for the "Socceroos," the Australian national team. In 2005 he played versus South Africa for the 18th and last time for his country. In his 18 full international matches he scored seven goals. In 1999 he also played twice against the Brazilian "B" team, scoring two goals. In 1996 he was part of the Australian squad for the Olympics in Atlanta, but he was not used in Australia's three matches there.
Career statistics
As of 22 December 2008
1 – included A-League final series statistics
2 – includes Club World Cup statistics; UEFA Cup statistics; UEFA Intertoto Cup statistics; Asian Champions League statistics (included in season commencing after group stages).