Agu Casmir
 |
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 23 March 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Lagos, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | Woodlands Wellington | 53 | (41) |
| 2004–2005 | Young Lions | 34 | (31) |
| 2006 | Woodlands Wellington | 30 | (14) |
| 2007 | Gombak United | 26 | (11) |
| 2008 | PDRM | 3 | (1) |
| 2008–2010 | Gombak United | 57 | (23) |
| 2010–2011 | Persija Jakarta | 21 | (9) |
| 2012 | LionsXII | 14 | (5) |
| 2013 | Persebaya Bhayangkara | 6 | (2) |
| 2014–2015 | Warriors FC | 12 | (5) |
| Total | 256 | (142) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2007 | Singapore U23 | ||
| 2004–2012 | Singapore | 37 | (13) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Agu Casmir (born 23 March 1984[1]) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. Born in Nigeria, he played for the Singapore national team.
Club career
Casmir previously played for S.League clubs Young Lions and Woodlands Wellington in Singapore's S.League,
Casmir burst onto the football scene with Woodlands Wellington in 2002, scoring a remarkable 27 goals as an 18-year-old. He followed that up with another 15 goals the next year. In 2004 and 2005, playing for Young Lions, he scored a total of 31 goals. He returned to Woodlands Wellington last year and scored 17 times, before joining Gombak United at the start of the current 2007 S.League season.
In 2006, it was reported that Casmir signed a contract with Indonesian football club Persija Jakarta and that he took a signing-on fee of US$20,000.[2] However, he did not at Persija Jakarta on 17 January, claiming to be attending football trials with a Russian club and the club subsequently sought repayment of the fee from his agent, ex-footballer Jules Onana.[2][3] It was subsequently reported that Casmir had left his residence in Toa Payoh with his belongings on 19 January.[4]
It was consequently reported on 19 February 2006 in The Straits Times that Casmir had purportedly been in Canada and had no intention of further pursuing a career in football. The report quoted Casmir's ex-manager, R. Vengadasalam, as saying that Casmir was disillusioned with football and had no intention of returning to Singapore. He had taken the contract to prove that he could still command a large annual fee (reported at US$80,000).[5]
After a few weeks, reports emerged that Casmir wanted to return to playing football in Singapore. Several football clubs including Gombak United had expressed interest in inviting him to play for their team, before he re-signed for former club Woodlands Wellington on a one-year contract, under a deal in which the club would re-pay Persija Jakarta his signing-on fee. The Football Association of Singapore suspended Casmir from the national squad for a year and fined him S$20,000 for his actions involving Persija Jakarta.[6]
On 19 September 2007, Casmir's 86th-minute goal for the Gombak United, which cancelled out Home United FC Kone Hamed's 18th-minute opener, was his 100th in the S.League.
At the end of the 2007, Gombak United decided not to renew Casmir's contract. Nevertheless, when the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifier game against Lebanon loomed, he trained with one of his former clubs, Young Lions, to keep his fitness at peak condition to be eligible for a call-up to the national team.
Casmir did not play for the large part of 2008 due to being clubless, but in August 2008, Malaysian club PDRM FA signed him together with Noh Alam Shah. Controversially, he was released after just 3 games, without any goals to his name. Gombak United again re-signed him in 2009.
Casmir spent the 2011 season playing for Persija Jakarta in the Indonesian Super League. On 5 December 2011, it was announced that he would be joining the Singapore LIONSXII team that would be returning to the Malaysian Super League for the 2012 season.
Not retained on the LionsXII squad for 2013, Casmir was left without a club for a year until he signed with Indonesian club Persebaya Bhayangkara at the end of 2013.[7][8] In June 2014, he signed with S.League Warriors FC, taking jersey number 22.
International career
Born in Nigeria, Casmir was offered Singapore citizenship via the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme in 2004.[9] He was a member of the Singapore national team, which won the Tiger Cup regional football championship in 2005.
Casmir was part of the national football team for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) held at the Philippines. Singapore failed to advance beyond the group stage with Casmir failing to score a goal.[5] He was also part of the team for the 2007 SEA Games where Singapore won the bronze medal.
Casmir's impressive displays in the tail-end of 2008 earned him a national call-up for the 2008 Suzuki Cup. He scored a last-minute goal for Singapore against Myanmar to allow Singapore to earn three points at the 2010 Suzuki Cup, but they were still unable to progress to the next round.
Career statistics
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 13 December 2004 | Hanoi, Vietnam |  Laos |
3–1 | 6–2 (Won) | 2004 Tiger Cup |
| 2. | 13 December 2004 | Hanoi, Vietnam | Laos |
6–2 | 6–2 (Won) | 2004 Tiger Cup |
| 3. | 29 December 2004 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |  Myanmar |
2–1 | 4–3 (Won) | 2004 Tiger Cup |
| 4. | 2 January 2005 | Singapore | Myanmar |
4–2 | 4–2 (Won) | 2004 Tiger Cup |
| 5. | 8 January 2005 | Jakarta, Indonesia |  Indonesia |
3–0 | 3–1 (Won) | 2004 Tiger Cup |
| 6. | 16 January 2005 | Singapore | Indonesia |
2–0 | 2–1 (Won) | 2004 Tiger Cup |
| 7. | 4 October 2007 | Manama, Bahrain |  Bahrain |
1–0 | 1–0 (Lost) | Friendly |
| 8. | 5 December 2008 | Jakarta, Indonesia |  Cambodia |
1–0 | 5–0 (Won) | 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup |
| 9. | 5 December 2008 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Cambodia |
4–0 | 5–0 (Won) | 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup |
| 10. | 7 December 2008 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Myanmar |
2–0 | 3–1 (Won) | 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup |
| 11. | 7 December 2008 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Myanmar |
3–1 | 3–1 (Won) | 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup |
| 12. | 26 November 2010 | Jurong, Singapore | Laos |
2–0 | 4–0 (Won) | Friendly |
| 13. | 26 November 2010 | Jurong, Singapore | Laos |
4–0 | 4–0 (Won) | Friendly |
| 14. | 5 December 2010 | Hanoi, Vietnam |  Myanmar |
2–1 | 2–1 (Won) | 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup |
Honours
Gombak United
- Singapore League Cup: 2008
Singapore
- ASEAN Football Championship: 2004
- Southeast Asian Games: Bronze Medal – 2007
Individual
- 100 S.League Goals: 2007
References
- ^ "Agu Casmir Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ a b Fang, Nicholas (20 January 2006). "Where in the world is Agu Casmir?". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. pp. H21.
- ^ Fang, Nicholas (21 January 2006). "Casmir contacts Singapore, Indonesia". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. pp. S22.
- ^ Fang, Nicholas; Foo, Alvin (2 February 2006). "Casmir left in the dead of night". The Straits Times. pp. H8.
- ^ a b "Agu calls - and he wants to quit soccer". The Straits Times. 19 February 2006. p. 41.
- ^ "The Power of Words". Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
- ^ "The Nigeria-born Singaporean forward has returned to Indonesia with the East Java club who have been in the search for a new striker". Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- ^ "Agu Casmir's Indonesia stint comes to early end". Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- ^ "The imports Singapore called upon under the Foreign Talent Scheme". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
External links
- Agu Casmir at National-Football-Teams.com