Fernando Aguiar

Born in Chaves, Aguiar moved to Canada at an early age, beginning his career in the Canadian Soccer League where he represented local Toronto Blizzard. Although the league disbanded in 1992, he remained with the team for their only season in the American Professional Soccer League; additionally, he played organised ice hockey at amateur level. Dubbed RoboCop due to his powerful frame, Aguiar started competing in Europe in 1994, with Portuguese Primeira Liga club C.S. Marítimo. He had trouble making the lineups and subsequently dropped down to the Segunda Liga where he spent four of the next five years, playing for C.D. Nacional, F.C. Maia and S.C. Beira-Mar, helping the latter to achieve promotion in 2000 and subsequently stay in the top flight. Aguiar's good form was noticed by S.L. Benfica, for whom he signed a six-month contract in December 2001, going on to play a somewhat important defensive role. On 25 January 2004, he 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 hours later. He also helped the Lisbon-based side claim the 2003–04 edition of the Taça de Portugal, featuring 65 minutes of the 2–1 extra-time victory over FC Porto in the final. After his cup-winning exploits, Aguiar transferred to Swedish club 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 August 2005 he joined second-tier…

Aguiar possessed both Portuguese and Canadian citizenship but, having grown up in Canada, he eventually featured for 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. His final international appearance was in July 1999, with Saudi Arabia.

Benfica

Taça de Portugal: 2003–04