Paul Agostino

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Personal information
Paul Agostino
Full name	Paul Agostino
Date of birth	June 9, 1975 (1975-06-09) (age 33)
Place of birth	Adelaide, Australia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Adelaide United
Number	9
Youth clubs
	Salisbury
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991-1992 1992-1994 1994-1995 1995-1997 1997-2007 2007-present	West Adelaide SC BSC Young Boys Yverdon-Sport FC Bristol City 1860 Munich Adelaide United	017 0(6) 026 0(3) 015 0(6) 084 (19) 187 (46) 010 0(4)
National team²
1991 1993 1996 1996-2005	Australia U-17 Australia U-20 Australia U-23 Australia	020 0(9)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 December 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 18 December 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Agostino (born 9 June 1975 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) striker. Agostino is part of the Adelaide United squad in the Australian A-League.

1 Club career
- 1.1 Overseas
- 1.2 Adelaide United
2 International career
3 Trivia
4 A-League career statistics
5 Honours
6 External links

[edit] 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 in the old and now defunct 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.

[edit] 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 first season with City that he began to score more regularly, bagging 10 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 München. 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 the he would be leaving the club on amicable terms at the end of the Second Bundesliga 2006/2007 season.

[edit] Adelaide United

It was announced in February 2007 that Adelaide United had agreed on a two-year contract with Agostino which will see the striker return to his home city and play and live in Australia for the first time in 15 years in the third season of the A-League.

Although never prolific in his goal-scoring, Agostino maintained around a one-goal-every-four-games ratio throughout his career. The obvious exception is his national-team record, where he averaged almost a goal every other game. Agostino arrived home in mid-June, and despite carrying a foot injury, he is confident of making his debut for Adelaide in round 1 of the A-League on August 25. On July 23rd 2007 it was believed that Paul Agostino had got every player of Adelaide United(including himself) to autograph an Adelaide United shirt, for a die hard supporter, on his 16th birthday.