| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fernando João Lobo Aguiar | ||
| Date of birth | March 18, 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Chaves, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1991–1993 | Toronto Blizzard | 22 | (9) |
| 1994–1995 | Marítimo | 7 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | Nacional | 39 | (4) |
| 1997–1999 | Maia | 54 | (9) |
| 1999–2001 | Beira-Mar | 75 | (10) |
| 2002–2004 | Benfica | 38 | (3) |
| 2002–2003 | → União Leiria (loan) | 28 | (4) |
| 2004 | Landskrona BoIS | 1 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Penafiel | 21 | (3) |
| 2005–2009 | Gondomar | 93 | (10) |
| National team | |||
| 1992 | Canada U23 | 4 | (0) |
| 1995–1999 | Canada | 13 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Fernando João Lobo Aguiar (born 18 March 1972 in Chaves) is a retired Portuguese-born Canadian footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
He was arguably Canada's second most successful player to have featured in Portugal, after striker Alex Bunbury, and is one of about a dozen Portuguese-Canadians to have played soccer in Portugal.
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Powerfully built, Aguiar began his career in the Canadian Soccer League, playing for his home town's (he moved to Canada at an early age) Toronto Blizzard. Although the league disbanded in 1992, he remained with the team for its only season in the American Professional Soccer League.
He began his European career in 1994 with Portuguese first division side C.S. Marítimo. However, he had trouble cracking the line-up and subsequently dropped down a division, where he would spend five years, playing for C.D. Nacional, F.C. Maia, and S.C. Beira-Mar, helping the latter achieve promotion and subsequently stay in the top flight.
His good form was noticed by giants S.L. Benfica, for whom he signed in January 2002, going on to play a somewhat important defensive role. On 25 January 2004, Aguiar 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. He also helped the Lisbon-side capture the 2004 Portuguese Cup.
After his cup winning exploits, Aguiar made a surprise transfer to Swedish side Landskrona BoIS. However, an injury and his high wages ruined the move, and he left after only a few months for F.C. Penafiel. In 2006, he joined second-tier club Gondomar SC, representing it for three years, with relegation in the last, after which he was released, aged 37, retiring shortly after.
Aguiar has both Portuguese and Canadian citizenship but, having grown up in Canada, he eventually featured for the its national team. Ironically, he made his debut in a January 1995 SkyDome Cup match against Portugal, and went on to earn a total of 13 caps, scoring no goals.
Aguiar represented Canada in four FIFA World Cup qualification matches;[1] his final international was a July 1999 match against Saudi Arabia.