Gilbert Agius

Gilbert Agius (born 21 February 1974) is a Maltese professional football manager for Liga 1 club PSIS Semarang[2] and former footballer who played as a forward. He has a UEFA Pro coaching license.

Gilbert Agius
Personal information
Full name Gilbert Agius
Date of birth (1974-02-21) 21 February 1974[1]
Place of birth Valletta, Malta
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 PSIS Semarang (Head Coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–2014 Valletta 453 (182)
2001 → Pisa (loan) 4 (0)
2013–2014 → Xewkija Tigers (loan) 0 (0)
Total 457 (182)
International career
1989–1990 Malta U16 5 (0)
1990–1992 Malta U18 5 (0)
1990–1995 Malta U21 16 (3)
1993–2009 Malta 120 (8)
Managerial career
2012–2014 Valleta (Assistant Manager)
2014 Valletta
2014–2019 Valletta (Assistant Manager)
2019 Valletta
2019–2020 Valletta (Assistant Manager)
2020 Valletta (Caretaker Manager)
2020–2021 Valletta (Assistant Manager)
2021–2022 Malta U21
2022 Malta (Caretaker Manager)
2023– PSIS Semarang
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Agius was the captain of his hometown club side Valletta and is one of the most well known and highly respected figures in Maltese football history. He is hailed as a hero by the Valletta fans, due to his loyalty to his hometown club, where he played since 1990, bar a short spell during the first half of the 2001–02 season which he spent on loan to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Pisa. His number 7 shirt is retired in respect of his loyalty and great service to the club.[3] He is the most capped player and the all time goal scorer at Valletta[4] Agius is also the player who won the most honours in Valletta history. He also holds the record of top Maltese scorer in European games with 10 goals.

Gilbert Agius has received three Malta Football Association Player of the Year awards. The first was won in 1996–97, the second in Valletta's successful 2000–01 season, the third in 2006–07.[5]

At the start of the 2007–08 season Agius was on trial with Enköpings SK FK, but later he opted to stay with Valletta. At the end of 2007 Agius was out with a thigh injury for several months. He returned just as the team started fulfilling its potential, and led Valletta to the first title since 2000–01. He won a single Player of the Month award during the season (September 2007) and was chosen as Best Local Player in the Maltese Football Awards at the end of the 2007–08 season.

At the beginning of the 2012–13 season Agius was named to be Assistant Manager of Valletta, with new Manager Mark Miller. He later left this role and came out of retirement to play for Gozo side Xewkija Tigers[6] helping them to win the Gozo Football League.

Coaching career

After his short spell with Xewkija Tigers, Agius came back to Valletta, where he took again the place of assistant manager. In such role he had the chance to replace the head coach several times. In 2019 he replaced Danilo Doncic as a caretaker manager of the citizens, and led the club to win the title after beating Hibernians in the decider match.[7] In December 2020 Agius came back in help of his club, taking the role of caretaker coach again after the resignation of Jesmond Zerafa.[8] At the end of the year he was replaced by Tozé Mendes, coming back to his role as assistant manager.[9]

In January 2021 Agius was appointed as new head coach of the Malta national under-21 football team.[10]

For the first time ever in his career, Aguis coached outside Europe. In 15 February 2023 Agius was appointed as new head coach of the Indonesian club PSIS Semarang.[11]

Achievements

Player
1991–92, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12
1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2009–10
1989–90, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
  • Centenary Cup: 1
2000
  • National League 100 Anniversary Cup: 1
2009–10
  • BetFair Cup: 1
2008
  • Löwenbräu Cup: 6
1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01
  • Super Five Cup: 4
1992–93, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2007–08
  • Mare Blu Cup: 1
2010, 2011
2011–12
1996–97, 2000–01, 2006–07

Manager
2018–19

Assistant Manager
2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18
2013–14, 2017–18
2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19
  • Euro Challenge Cup: 2
2013–14, 2014–15

International career

Malta

Gilbert has recorded a remarkable 120 caps for his country, making him the third most capped player in Malta's history.[12] For the national team, he has often been used a defensive midfielder in recent years. Not due to exceptional defensive skills, but due to his ability to distribute the ball. He has scored 8 goals for the national team.[13] At club level he has played primarily as a supporting forward. Gilbert was captain of Malta for many years until he stopped being called up for international duty, but is loved by fans and remembered to be a very passionate player who loved to play for his country.

Agius' goal in a 1–1 friendly game against Austria was voted Goal of the Season in the 2006–07 Malta Football Awards.

International goals

Malta Goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 August 1996Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland1–01–2Friendly
2.8 June 1997Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Faroe Islands1–01–21998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
3.6 February 2000National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Azerbaijan2–03–0Rothmans Cup
4.6 February 2000National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Azerbaijan3–03–0Rothmans Cup
5.5 September 2001Na Stínadlech, Teplice, Czech Republic Czech Republic2–22–32002 FIFA World Cup qualifying
6.11 February 2002National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Lithuania1–11–1Rothmans Cup
7.15 November 2006Hibernians Stadium, Paola, Malta Lithuania1–31–4Friendly
8.7 February 2007National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Austria1–01–1Friendly

Managerial statistics
As of 20 October 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Valletta 1 July 2014 10 October 2014 9 2 1 6 022.22
13 April 2019 30 June 2019 7 5 1 1 071.43
1 December 2020 27 December 2020 2 1 1 0 050.00
Malta U21 26 January 2021 7 November 2022 13 2 1 10 015.38
Malta 8 November 2022 14 December 2022 2 0 1 1 000.00
PSIS Semarang 15 February 2023 Present 25 10 3 12 040.00
Total 58 20 8 30 034.48

See also

References
  1. "Gilbert Agius". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  2. stafadmin (15 February 2023). "Gilbert Agius Ditunjuk Jadi Pelatih Kepala PSIS". PSIS Semarang (in Indonesian). Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  3. Busuttil, Antoine (7 October 2013). "VALLETTA FC WEAR PUTTINU CARES LOGO ON SHIRTS". MaltaFootball. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  4. "Gilbert Agius". Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  5. Di Maggio, Roberto; José Luis, Pierrend (16 December 2020). "Malta - Player of the Year". Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  6. "Gilbert Agius joins Xewkija Tigers". 31 October 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  7. Busuttil, Antoine (4 May 2019). "VALLETTA CROWNED BOV PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS AFTER PENALTY SHOOT-OUT". MaltaFootball. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  8. Camilleri, Valhmor (2 December 2020). "Agius appointed interim coach at Valletta FC". Times of Malta. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. Camilleri, Valhmor (28 December 2020). "Portuguese coach Cardoso Mendes takes over at Valletta FC". SportsDesk. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. "Mark Gatt confirmed as Malta women's coach". Malta Football Association. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  11. stafadmin (15 February 2023). "Gilbert Agius Ditunjuk Jadi Pelatih Kepala PSIS". PSIS Semarang (in Indonesian). Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. "National "A" players apparences". Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  13. "National football team player Gilbert Agius". Retrieved 30 December 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.