Fernando_Aguiar Knowpia

Fernando Aguiar
Personal information
Full name	Fernando João Lobo Aguiar
Date of birth	18 March 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Chaves, Portugal
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1981–1986	Scarborough Blizzard
1987	Wexford
1988–1989	Oshawa Turul
Senior career*
Years	Team
1991–1993	Toronto Blizzard
1994–1995	Marítimo
1995–1997	Nacional
1997–1999	Maia
1999–2001	Beira-Mar
2002–2004	Benfica
2002–2003	→ União Leiria (loan)
2004	Landskrona BoIS
2004–2005	Penafiel
2005–2009	Gondomar
2013–2014	Pedrouços
Total
International career
1992	Canada U23
1995–1999	Canada
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fernando João Lobo Aguiar (born 18 March 1972) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder.

He was arguably Canada's second most successful player to have competed in Portugal, after Alex Bunbury, and was one of about a dozen Portuguese Canadians to have played soccer in the country. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 138 matches and 13 goals over six seasons, appearing in the competition for Marítimo, Beira-Mar, Benfica, União de Leiria and Penafiel; he added 195 games and 25 goals in the Segunda Liga.

Aguiar represented Canada internationally.

Club career edit

Born in Chaves, Aguiar moved to Canada at an early age, beginning his career in the Canadian Soccer League where he represented hometown's Toronto Blizzard. Although the league disbanded in 1992, he remained with the team for their only season in the American Professional Soccer League.

Dubbed RoboCop due to his powerful frame,^[1]^[2] Aguiar started competing in Europe in 1994, with Portuguese Primeira Liga club C.S. Marítimo. He had trouble making the lineups and subsequently dropped down to the Segunda Liga where he spent four of the next five years, playing for C.D. Nacional, F.C. Maia and S.C. Beira-Mar, helping the latter to achieve promotion in 2000 and subsequently stay in the top flight.^[3]

Aguiar's good form was noticed by S.L. Benfica, for whom he signed a six-month contract in December 2001,^[4] going on to play a somewhat important defensive role. On 25 January 2004 he scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Vitória de Guimarães (in the 90th minute), assisted by Miklós Fehér who would die in the hospital just hours later;^[5] he also helped the Lisbon-based side capture the 2004 Taça de Portugal.^[6]

After his cup-winning exploits, Aguiar transferred to Swedish club Landskrona BoIS. However, an injury and his high wages ruined the move, and he left after only a few months for F.C. Penafiel.^[7] In August 2005 he joined second-tier Gondomar SC, representing it for four years and suffering relegation in the last,^[8] after which he was released at age 37, retiring shortly after.^[9]

On 13 November 2013, more than four years after his last match, Aguiar came out of retirement, moving to Pedrouços A.C. in the Porto regional divisions.^[10]^[11]

International career edit

Aguiar possessed both Portuguese and Canadian citizenship but, having grown up in Canada, he eventually featured for its national team. Ironically, he made his debut in a January 1995 SkyDome Cup match against Portugal,^[12] and went on to earn a total of 13 caps scoring no goals.^[13]

Aguiar represented Canada in four FIFA World Cup qualification matches.^[14] His final international appearance was in July 1999, with Saudi Arabia.^[13]

Honours edit

Benfica

Taça de Portugal: 2003–04^[6]

References edit

^ "Beira Mar frente à Naval: Fernando Aguiar, o possante "Robocop"" [Beira Mar against Naval: Fernando Aguiar, the powerful "Robocop"]. Record (in Portuguese). 22 July 2001. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
^ "Gondomar-Belenenses, 1–4: O trem de Belém" [Gondomar-Belenenses, 1–4: The Belém train]. Record (in Portuguese). 22 January 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
^ "Benfica tem médio do Beira Mar na lista de reforços" [Benfica have Beira Mar midfielder on their shopping list] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 29 November 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ "Fernando Aguiar assinou contrato por seis meses" [Fernando Aguiar signed six-month contract]. Record (in Portuguese). 12 December 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ Ashdown, John (26 January 2004). "Benfica's Miklós Fehér dies after heart attack on pitch". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Benfica vence Taça de Portugal (2–1)" [Benfica win Portuguese Cup (2–1)]. Público (in Portuguese). 16 May 2004. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
^ "Fernando Aguiar: "Cumpri a palavra mas perdi dinheiro"" [Fernando Aguiar: "I kept my word but i lost money"]. Record (in Portuguese). 25 August 2004. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ "Liga decreta descida de Gondomar e Vizela por corrupção" [League decrees relegation of Gondomar and Vizela for corruption]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 9 June 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ "Fernando Aguiar: "Jogava mais 5 anos"" [Fernando Aguiar: "I would play another 5 years"]. Record (in Portuguese). 25 January 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ "AF Porto – Pedrouços: Fernando Aguiar (antigo médio do Benfica) regressa aos relvados" [Porto FA – Pedrouços: Fernando Aguiar (former Benfica midfielder) returns to the pitches] (in Portuguese). Agente Desportivo. 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^ ""Vou tentar divertir-me"" ["I will try to have fun"] (in Portuguese). SJPF. 9 January 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
^ Courtney, Barrie; Pierrend, José Luis. "Skydome Cup (Canada 1995)". RSSSF. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Benfica: Fernando Aguiar convocado para a selecção do Canadá" [Benfica: Fernando Aguiar called for Canada national team] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 10 November 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ Fernando Aguiar – FIFA competition record (archived)