Agu Casmir (born 23 March 1984) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker or

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born in Nigeria, he played for the Singapore national team. He currently holds the record for the all-time goal scorer for

Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Wellington Football Club was a professional association football, football club based in Woodlands, Singapore, Woodlands, Singapore which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League ...

with 55 goals.

Club career

Casmir previously played for S.League clubs Young Lions and

in Singapore's S.League.

Woodlands Wellington

Casmir burst onto the football scene with

in 2002, scoring a remarkable 27 goals as an 18-year-old. He followed that up with another 15 goals the next year.

Young Lions

In 2004 and 2005, Casmir played for Young Lions where he scored a total of 31 goals.

Return to Woodlands Wellington

Casmir returned to Woodlands Wellington in 2006 and scored 17 goals.

Gombak United

Casmir then joined

Gombak United Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club based in Bukit Gombak, Singapore that last competed in the top tier of the Singapore football league system. The club took part in the S.League from 1998 to 2002, and from 2006 to 2 ...

at the start of the current 2007 S.League season. On 19 September 2007, Casmir's 86th-minute goal for the Gombak United, which cancelled out

Home United FC Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

Kone Hamed's 18th-minute opener, was his 100th in the S.League. At the end of 2007, Gombak United decided not to renew Casmir's contract. Nevertheless, when the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

match against

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

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.

PDRM FA

Casmir did not play for most of 2008 due to being clubless, but in August 2008, Malaysian club

PDRM FA Polis DiRaja Malaysia Football Club or Royal Malaysian Police Football Club (), well known as PDRM FC (After ''PDRM FC Sdn Bhd'' established in 2020, formerly known as ''PDRM FA''), is a Malaysian professional association football, football clu ...

signed him together with

Noh Alam Shah Mohd Noh Alam Shah (born 3 September 1980), known as Noh Alam Shah, is a Singaporean football coach and former professional association football, football player. who is the head coach of Singapore Premier League club Tanjong Pagar United. Once ...

. Controversially, he was released after just 3 games, without any goals to his name.

Return to Gombak United

Gombak United again re-signed him in 2009 following his release from PDRM FA.

Persija Jakarta

In October 2010, Casmir joined

Persija Jakarta Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jakarta ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Jakarta'), abbreviated as Persija (), is an Indonesian professional Association football, football club based in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. Persija Jaka ...

in the

Indonesian Super League Liga 1 (), officially known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the men's top professional association football, football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by Liga Indonesia Baru, PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Li ...

where he spent the 2011 season playing for the club.

LionsXII

On 5 December 2011, it was announced that Casmir would be joining the

LionsXII LionsXII ("Lions Twelve"), also known as Singapore LionsXII, was a Singaporean youth football club founded in 2011 that played in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football, from their inaugural season until their dissolutio ...

team that would be making their debut in the

Malaysian Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known ...

for the 2012 season.

Bhayangkara F.C.

Not retained on the LionsXII squad for 2013, Casmir was left without a club for a year until he signed with Indonesian club

Bhayangkara F.C. Bhayangkara Presisi Lampung Football Club, simply known as Bhayangkara Presisi, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Bandar Lampung, Lampung. The club is linked to the Indonesian National Police. The name of the club is based on ...

in January 2013.

Warriors FC

In June 2014, Casmir returned to Singapore to sign with S.League club

Warriors FC Warriors Football Club was a Singaporean professional football club based in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore, that played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before changing their name on 20 January 2013, they ...

, taking jersey number 22. He retired at the end of the 2015 season.

International career

Born in Nigeria, Casmir was offered

Singapore citizenship Singapore nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Singapore nationality. The primary law governing nationality requirements is the Constitution of Singapore, which came into force on 9 August 1965. Individuals born to at ...

via the

Foreign Sports Talent Scheme The Foreign Sports Talent Scheme (FST), initially known as Project Rainbow, was a scheme used by sports officials and organisations in Singapore to scout and facilitate the migration of non-Singaporeans deemed to possess sports talent to play in S ...

in 2004. He was a member of the Singapore national team, which won the

2004 AFF Championship The 2004 AFF Championship (officially known as the 2004 Tiger Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), and the last time und ...

title. Casmir was part of the national football team for the

2005 Southeast Asian Games The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines. This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991. ...

(SEA Games) held at the Philippines. Singapore failed to advance beyond the group stage, with Casmir failing to score a goal. He was also part of the team for the

2007 SEA Games The 2007 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 24th Southeast Asian Games, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand. This was the sixth time Thailand hosted the ...

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 AFF Championship The 2008 AFF Championship was the seventh edition of the tournament. It was primarily sponsored by Suzuki and therefore officially known as the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup. The group stage was held in Indonesia and Thailand from 5 to 10 December 2008. T ...

. He scored a last-minute goal for Singapore against

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

to allow Singapore to earn three points at the

2010 AFF Championship The 2010 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and P&G and officially known as the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 8th edition of the AFF Championship, took place on 1–29 December 2010. Indonesia and Vietnam hosted the group stage from 1 to 8 De ...

, but they were still unable to progress to the next round.

Persija Jakarta Controversy

In 2006, it was reported that Casmir signed a contract with Indonesian football club

and that he took a signing-on fee of US$20,000. However, he did not sign with 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. It was subsequently reported that Casmir had left his residence in

Toa Payoh Toa Payoh ( or , , ) is a Planning areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borde ...

with his belongings on 19 January. It was consequently reported on 19 February 2006 in

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

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 R. Vengadasalam, commonly known as Venga, is a Singaporean football official who is the founder and current president of Woodlands Lions FC, a youth-developmental football club with its senior team taking part in Singapore Island Wide Leag ...

, 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). After a few weeks, reports emerged that Casmir wanted to return to play 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 The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football in Singapore. Established in 1892 as the Singapore Football Association (SFA), it is the oldest football association in all of ...

suspended Casmir from the national squad for a year and fined him S$20,000 for his actions involving Persija Jakarta.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Gombak United *

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual association football competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007 and was open to teams who competed in the S.League. Albirex Niigata (S), a satellite club of Albirex Niigata of the J League, has won t ...

: 2008

International

Singapore *

ASEAN Football Championship The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the ASEAN Hyundai Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's natio ...

: 2004 *

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

: Bronze Medal – 2007

Individual

*100 S.League Goals: 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Casmir, Agu 1984 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Singaporean men's footballers Singapore men's international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Naturalised association football players Nigerian emigrants to Singapore Naturalised citizens of Singapore Gombak United FC players Woodlands Wellington FC players Warriors FC players Singapore Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Singaporean expatriate men's footballers Singaporean expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Persija Jakarta players Bhayangkara Presisi Lampung F.C. players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Singaporean expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Polis Diraja Malaysia FC players LionsXII players Malaysia Super League players Men's association football forwards Young Lions FC players SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2007 SEA Games Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Singapore 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen