Paul Agostino (born 9 June 1975) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a forward. 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.

Paul Agostino
Personal information
Full name Paul Agostino[1]
Date of birth (1975-06-09) 9 June 1975 (age 49)[1]
Place of birth Adelaide, Australia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Salisbury United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990 Salisbury United
1991 West Adelaide 17 (6)
1992–1994 Young Boys 29 (3)
1994–1995 Yverdon-Sport 9 (3)
1995–1997 Bristol City 85 (19)
1997–2007 1860 Munich 248 (77)
2006 1860 Munich II 4 (1)
2007–2009 Adelaide United 20 (4)
Total 412 (113)
International career
1991 Australia U-17 4 (4)
1993 Australia U-20 6 (2)
1996 Australia U-23 3 (1)
1996–2005 Australia 18 (7)
Medal record
Men's association football
Representing  Australia
OFC Nations Cup
Winner 2000 Tahiti
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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 teammate Roman Týce and opened a soccer school called MunichSoccerCamp.[2][3]

Club career

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Born in Adelaide, Australia, Agostino started his club career at Salisbury United. He on to the national scene in 1991 in his first season at senior level with West Adelaide SC in the 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

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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 Second Division (the third tier of English club football).

After two productive seasons in Bristol, Agostino's growing reputation caught the eye of Bundesliga side 1860 Munich. 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

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It was announced in February 2007 that A-League team Adelaide United had agreed on a two-year contract with Agostino which saw him 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

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Agostino debuted for the Australia national team in 1996 in a match against Chile. In 1996, he was part of the Australia squad for the Olympics in Atlanta, but he was not used in Australia's three matches there. In 1999, he played twice against the Brazil "B" team, scoring two goals. In 2001, Agostino earned the penalty resulting in Australia’s goal in the 1–0 home victory over Uruguay in their ultimately ill-fated World Cup playoff. In 2005, he played versus South Africa for the 18th and last time for the Socceroos. In his 18 full international matches he scored seven goals.

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League[a] Cup International[b] Total Ref.
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
West Adelaide 1991–92 National Soccer League 17 6 ? ? 0 0 17 6 [4]
Young Boys 1992–93 Nationalliga A 12 2 ? ? ? ? 12 2 [5]
1993–94 Nationalliga A 14 1 ? ? ? ? 14 1 [5]
1994–95 Nationalliga A 3 0 ? ? 0 0 3 0 [5]
Total 29 3 29 3
Yverdon Sport 1994–95 Nationalliga A 9 3 ? ? 0 0 9 3 [5]
Bristol City 1995–96 Football League Second Division 40 10 40 10 [4]
1996–97 Football League Second Division 45 9 7 6 52 15 [6]
Total 85 19 7 6 0 0 92 25
1860 Munich 1997–98 Bundesliga 16 4 2 0 1 0 19 4 [7]
1998–99 Bundesliga 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 [7]
1999–00 Bundesliga 18 4 2 0 0 0 20 4 [7]
2000–01 Bundesliga 27 12 3 3 8 2 38 17 [7]
2001–02 Bundesliga 19 5 1 0 2 1 22 6 [7]
2002–03 Bundesliga 12 0 0 0 2 0 14 0 [7]
2003–04 Bundesliga 22 5 2 0 0 0 24 5 [7]
2004–05 2. Bundesliga 31 7 2 1 0 0 33 8 [7]
2005–06 2. Bundesliga 31 9 3 2 0 0 34 11 [7]
2006–07 2. Bundesliga 19 7 1 0 0 0 20 7 [7]
Total 202 53 16 6 13 3 231 62
1860 Munich II 2006–07 Regionalliga Süd 4 1 4 1 [5]
Adelaide United 2007–08 A-League 10 4 0 0 0 0 10 4 [5]
2008–09 A-League 10 0 1 0 3 0 14 0 [5]
Total 20 4 1 0 3 0 24 4
Career total 366 89 24 12 16 3 406 104
  1. ^ Appearances in A-League final series
  2. ^ Appearances in Club World Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup, Asian Champions League (included in season commencing after group stages)

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[4]
National team Year Apps Goals
Australia 1996 2 0
2000 12 5
2001 2 0
2004 1 1
2005 1 0
Total 18 6
Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Agostino goal.
List of international goals scored by Paul Agostino[4]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 15 February 2000 Estadio Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile   Bulgaria 1–0 1–1 Friendly
2 29 June 2000 Papeete, Tahiti   Cook Islands 1–0 17–0 OFC Nations Cup 2000
3 12–0
4 7 October 2000 Dubai, United Arab Emirates   South Korea 1–0 2–4 2000 Friendship Tournament
5 2–0
6 18 February 2004 Estadio Olímpico, Caracas, Venezuela   Venezuela 1–0 1–1 Friendly

Honours

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Australia

References

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  1. ^ a b c "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 Presented By TOYOTA — List Of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008.
  2. ^ Griss, Oliver (25 August 2011). "“Maurer wird nur ein großer 1860-Trainer, wenn er aufsteigt”" (in German). dieblaue24.de. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  3. ^ "msc" (in German). munichsoccercamp.de. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Paul Agostino at National-Football-Teams.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Paul Agostino » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Games played by Paul Agostino in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Paul Agostino". kicker (in German). Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Oceania Nations Cup 2000". Retrieved 14 October 2024.
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  NODES
Association 2
INTERN 9
Note 1