Paul Agostino
Paul Agostino won’t be in Adelaide for very long. Well, not if hordes of adoring fans in the Bavarian capital of Munich have anything to do with it.

“The 1860 Munich fans are under the impression I’m coming over here for a couple of years, then I’m going back to Germany to take over as club director of football,” says the 32 year-old striker with a smile.

Unfortunately, the man who was affectionately known as fussballgott says he has plenty to achieve in his hometown Adelaide before he contemplates anything else.

A decade on from signing with Bayern Munich’s fierce rival 1860 in 1997, Agostino agreed to end his contract at the end of last season and return home to where it all started. And it was not just to any old A-League team: it was his hometown club Adelaide United.

His arrival was big news in an off-season dominated by returning Socceroos – but it was nothing like the splash he made on his final day in Germany. The big Aussie’s departure from the Allianz Arena wasn’t just a goodbye – it was an event; an emotional loss for the fans and a tearful auf wiedersehen.

A giant banner across one side of their massive stadium was unfurled before kick-off. It was still up when the game kicked off, obscuring the view of thousands of 1860 fans but they didn’t seem to care. They labelled him their Aussie fussballgott and eine legende, tributes you can see on YouTube along with Agostino’s best goals for club and country.

Agostino’s return completed the circle. It was at Hindmarsh Stadium – home of the Reds – that a skinny 16-year-old Agostino first hit the headlines back in 1992. It was his textbook finish that won the South Australian derby 1-0 for West Adelaide over Adelaide City – featuring current United assistant coach Carl Veart in the line up – that year.

A year later, Agostino’s fame spread via the World Youth Championships, held in Australia. Led by a bushy haired Kevin Muscat and marshalled at the back by a skinny 17-year-old AIS student called Craig Moore, the Young Socceroos took the country on a fun ride that went all the way to the semis.

And it was the South Australian’s headed goal against Uruguay at Suncorp Stadium in the quarters that is still talked about today. Put simply, it was an extraordinary piece of athleticism – part AFL screamer, part diving header, Agostino was almost horizontal when connecting with a cross over two defenders’ shoulders to level the tie 1-1. Australia went on to beat Los Celeste in extra-time.

The goal raised the roof and, more importantly, raised interest in the young Aussie at a time when Australian players were beginning to show up on European radars – Slater, Zelic, Okon… You could say Agostino was the Nathan Burns of that era.

With no A-League back then, a 17-year-old Agostino took the plunge and went overseas, signing for Switzerland’s Young Boys of Berne in 1993. It wasn’t a happy time.

“I nearly threw in the towel 10 times and I was going to take the next plane home to Australia,” he recalls. “But I stuck it out.

“It was a time when the Australian league was amateur and we’d train two or three nights a week. All the players had full time jobs. It was professional in Switzerland, I was very young. I didn’t understand the language. That was a really big learning curve, to learn about being a professional footballer, to learn a new language and culture.”

Three seasons, 29 appearances and four goals was the tally for his Swiss adventure. Not hugely impressive but it built a platform for a good European career.

“It wasn’t all high times, there were a lot of low times but you need that in your career. You need to experience the tough times to enjoy the good times.”

Agostino signed for Bristol City in 1995. The Robins were coached by ex-Scotland striker Joe Jordan, who perhaps saw a little of himself in Agostino. Jordan was one of the great British strikers of the ’70s and ’80s. Aggressive, hard working, strong in the air, Jordan could batter defences for the entire 90 minutes. And Big Joe was skilful, too. You don’t play for Leeds, Manchester United and have four seasons at AC Milan without having a bit of quality about you. And the now Portsmouth coach proved an effective role model for the young Aussie.

“He worked with me a lot one-on-one and he really improved my game,” remembers Agostino, who played over 80 times, netting 19 goals in two seasons for City. It also proved a master stroke in taking him to the next level in his career: the German Bundesliga.

It was at Munich 1860 that he met another mentor, German hard man Werner Lorant. “He was old school,” recalls Agostino fondly. “He took the club from the fourth division amateur ranks till they got to the Bundesliga. He took us all the way to Europe too. A bit like Joe Jordan, he was hard and honest. He was my best coach at 1860.”

The Aussie striker freely admits he’s not the greatest footballer to have ever pulled on the 1860 jersey. But it was his attitude that so endeared him. “I just try to be myself. My all-round package is probably the reason why

I stayed at 1860 for 10 years. It wasn’t because I had a great strike rate. It was the way I dealt with the younger players, the way I got on with the boys and my general play. I was always trying to help the club go forward.”

Under Lorant, the club cemented itself in the elite of German football and even made the Champions League qualifying round in 2000, before a Kewell and Viduka-led Leeds United knocked them out.

However, after a decade in the top flight, the club was relegated following the 2003/4 season. Agostino finished the last two seasons at 1860 in the second tier of German football and struggling to get a regular game. It was the right time to ship out. “I haven’t played for the biggest clubs in the world but I don’t regret anything I’ve done,” he adds.

On the international scene, Agostino won 20 Socceroo caps over a nine year period, the last in 2005. He insists he’s not unhappy with how his national team career panned out. And to be fair, given Mark Viduka’s emergence, it was always going to be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the Green and Gold.

However, let’s not forget it was Agostino who forced the foul in the box which gave Australia a penalty in the 2001 first leg World Cup qualifier at the MCG against Uruguay. At the same venue two years earlier, he destroyed Brazil with two beautifully taken goals in a 2-2 friendly in front of 70,000 fans who were let in for free after superstar Ronaldo was sent back to Europe days earlier.

Returning home earlier this year has provided Agostino with a clear perspective on how the A-League is progressing.

“TSV 1860 Munich has been going as a club since, well, 1860,” he explains, “whereas Adelaide United is only in its third season. So you can’t expect Adelaide to be running like a club that’s been going for over 150 years.

“I wouldn’t say the A-League is not as professional as Germany. I would say it’s just as professional. The effort they are making, you can’t ask for any more. You have got to take into consideration that you can’t expect players here to be doing the workload that these other leagues in Europe have been doing for years. You got to work them in slowly, but I tell you, there’s really not much in it.

“[Coach] Aurelio Vidmar has been to Europe as a player, he knows what he can do with his players and how much. At the end of the day you need results and the results we’ve been producing are an indication that we’re doing the right thing.”

It’s this graciousness that makes the big forward so universally liked. “I’ve joined a really, really good team here. A good bunch of players, with a good coaching staff as well. It’s been a smooth transition.”

However, Agostino’s return home has been blighted by injury. After arriving with a broken foot sustained in Germany, he worked hard to regain fitness but after two games back, a calf tear kept him out again.

Nevertheless, watching on, he has been able to ascertain the traits of a league still metamorphosing. “I would say it’s a bit more physical here, that definitely stands out. Not rough, but more contact. That’s the difference I’ve noticed. They’d blow a lot quicker for free kicks over there. But as far as pace and technique there’s not much in it.”

Leaving 1860 was a problem for the legion of admirers smitten by Agostino. He says he has no plans to return after his current two-year contract – but that won’t stop them.

“There are few more in the pipeline coming over,” Agostino says of the latest tourism wave to South Australia – 1860 fans making a pilgrimage to Hindmarsh Stadium to see their fussballgott in action.

They have their fans forums with news about how I’m going in Adelaide. And even though our colours are red [Bayern’s colours] they’ve forgiven me for that.”

Now, that is love.