Dennis Cagara

Dennis Mengoy Cagara (born 19 February 1985) is a Danish–Filipino former professional footballer who played as a left back. He represents the Philippines at international level, having previously played for Denmark at various youth levels.

Dennis Cagara
Personal information
Full name Dennis Mengoy Cagara[1]
Date of birth (1985-02-19) 19 February 1985
Place of birth Glostrup, Denmark
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Full back
Youth career
0000–2002 Brøndby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Brøndby IF 7 (0)
2004–2008 Hertha BSC 8 (0)
2005–2006 → Dynamo Dresden (loan) 28 (2)
2007–2008 → FC Nordsjællandd (loan) 18 (1)
2008–2010 FC Nordsjælland 37 (1)
2010 AGF 14 (0)
2011 Randers FC 0 (0)
2011 Lyngby BK 15 (0)
2012 FSV Frankfurt 5 (0)
2012–2013 Karlsruher SC 2 (0)
2013–2014 Lyngby BK 15 (2)
2014–2015 Hvidovre IF
National team
2000–2001 Denmark U-16 5 (1)
2001–2002 Denmark U-17 19 (3)
2002 Denmark U-18 3 (0)
2003–2004 Denmark U-19 6 (0)
2004–2005 Denmark U-20 4 (0)
2005–2006 Denmark U-21 6 (1)
2011–2014 Philippines 14 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Born in Glostrup to a Filipino father and Danish mother,[2] Cagara started playing youth football at Brøndby IF.

Club career

Cagara turned professional in March 2001, as he signed a 2½ year contract with Brøndby.[3] In April 2002, Cagara was reportedly scouted by Ajax Amsterdam scout Leo Beenhakker, but was found playing too nervously.[4]

Cagara made his senior debut for Brøndby at age 17 years and 220 days on 10 October 2002, making him the youngest debutant of the Danish Superliga championship,[2] and the fourth youngest debutant in Brøndby club history,[5] Cagara played seven league games for the club in the 2002–03 Superliga season, and was a part of the Brøndby team which won the 2003 Danish Cup trophy. In July 2003, Cagara signed a pre-contract with German club Hertha BSC, starting on 1 January 2004.[6] In the fall of 2003, Cagara suffered from hepatitis, and he only played one game for Brøndby in the 2003–04 season, against Dinamo Minsk in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup.[7]

At 18 years of age, Cagara moved abroad to play for Hertha in the winter transfer window of January 2004. He played the last eight games of the 2003–04 Bundesliga season for Hertha, and helped the club avoid relegation. In the 2004–05 season, Cagara played for Hertha's reserve team. In the summer 2005, Cagara was loaned out to Dynamo Dresden in the lower Second Bundesliga division. He spent the entire 2005–06 season at Dresden, playing 28 games and scoring two goals.

He re-entered the Hertha first team squad for the 2006–07 Bundesliga season. His injury recovered slowly, and he did not play any games for Hertha during that season, as Malik Fathi became Hertha's starting left defender. Cagara expressed desire to rejoin Brøndby in November 2006, which Hertha denied in the short term.

A week before the transfer deadline passed, on 22 August 2007, Cagara agreed a loan to the Copenhagen-based club FC Nordsjælland. His explosive and offensive playing style made him a fan favourite and he quickly became a regular starter at the club. Having started the last 6 matches, he scored a spectacular long range half-volley goal against Superliga Champions FC Copenhagen in the 87th minute which gave his side points. The goal was the first FCK had conceded at home in months. On 22 May 2008, he signed a two-year contract with FC Nordsjælland, moving to the club on a Bosman transfer.

On 23 January 2010, he was granted a free transfer by FC Nordsjælland and signed a contract for the rest of the 2009–10 season with AGF Aarhus.

On 16 March 2011, he signed a contract for the rest of the season with Randers FC.[8] He never made any first-team appearances for the club and was released at the end of the season.[9]

He signed up with Lyngby by the start of the 2011–12 Danish Superliga season. He made 15 appearances for the club. He was however released by the end of 2011. Seeking a new club, he went to Germany for trials with 3. Liga side Chemnitzer FC and made an appearance in their friendly match with Hansa Rostock II, playing 64 minutes as they won 3–1.[10][11] However, he did not sign for them. He then had trials with 2. Bundesliga side FSV Frankfurt and on 31 January 2012, he signed for the club until the end of the 2011–12 season with an option another year.[12] On 4 March 2012, he made his debut in a 4–3 loss against Erzgebirge Aue. He came in as a substitute at the 78th minute.[13] Following the death of his mother, both Cagara and the club agreed not to grant him an extension, and was therefore released at the end of the 2011–12 season after having five appearances for the club.[14]

Cagara signed for Karlsruher SC on a two-year deal in June 2012.[15]

In September 2013, Cagara signed for Lyngby.[16] After making 15 appearances for the club during the 2013–14 season, his contract was not renewed.[17] By mid-August 2014, he signed a six-month contract with Danish 2nd Division side Hvidovre.[18]

International career

While at Brøndbys youth academy, he made his international debut for the Danish under-16 national team in November 2000.[19] Cagara represented Denmark at the 2002 European Under-17 Championship. He played full-time in all Denmark's four games, though he missed one of the penalty kicks as Denmark were eliminated by penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals.[19] At the age of 18, Cagara made his debut for the Denmark national under-21 football team on 6 June 2003.[20] He suffered an injured Achilles tendon in May 2006, and could not represent Denmark at the 2006 European Under-21 Championship.

On 7 October 2011, Cagara made his debut for The Philippines at the senior level during a friendly match against Singapore. The match ended in a 2–0 defeat. In his next match however he proved to be instrumental as the Philippines won against Nepal, 4–0. Cagara announced his interest of participation in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, citing that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. He was included in the final 23-man squad with jersey number 35. However, he failed to join the team in Nepal.[21]

In November 2012, Cagara was part of the Philippine team on group stages of the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup (2012 AFF Suzuki Cup), the football championship of Southeast Asia, which was hosted by Thailand and Malaysia. He played in all three matches of the group A stage in Thailand.

Personal life

Cagara is married to Natashia. The couple has one child (Milas).

Cagara's older brother Sunny is an entertainer, who participated in Talent 2009, the Danish version of America's Got Talent.

Honours

Brøndby

Karlsruher SC

References
  1. "Philippines preliminary squad - 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  2. Sloth, Peter (26 December 2002). "Supertalenterne: Skole-hader". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish).
  3. "Dennis Cagara på kontrakt" (in Danish). Brondby.com. 22 March 2001. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  4. "Beenhakker med tomlen ned" (in Danish). Fyens Stiftstidende. 19 April 2002.
  5. Sørensen, Allan (20 October 2002). "Dennis Cagara i fornemt selskab". onside.dk (in Danish). The three debutants younger are Ronnie Ekelund, Brian Laudrup and Michael Laudrup.
  6. "Cagara til tysk fodbold" (in Danish). Brondby.com. 29 July 2003. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  7. "Cagara fra sygeseng til Bundesliga". Ritzau's. 29 December 2003.
  8. "Randers FC indgår aftale med Dennis Cagara sæsonen ud". RandersFC.dk (in Danish). Randers Football Club. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  9. "Cagara, Sarr og Fejzullahu får ikke forlænget". RandersFC.dk (in Danish). Randers Football Club. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  10. "Dennis Cagara als Probespieler zu Gast". ChemnitzerFC.de (in German). Chemnitzer Fußballclub e.V. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  11. "3:1-Testspielsieg gegen Hansa II". ChemnitzerFC.de (in German). Chemnitzer Fußballclub e.V. 10 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  12. "FSV Frankfurt verpflichtet Defensivakteur Dennis Cagara". FSV-Frankfurt.de (in German). Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  13. "Drei Auswärtstore erzielt, aber kein Punkt im Gepäck". FSV-Frankfurt.de (in German). Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  14. Blond, Mikael (9 May 2012). "Cagara bryder med FSV Frankfurt". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  15. "Cagara: Nächster Halt Karlsruhe". kicker (in German). 19 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  16. "Lyngby henter Dennis Cagara" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  17. "Lyngby siger farvel til Cagara" (in Danish). Bold.dk. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  18. "Hvidovre henter Cagara" (in Danish). Bold.dk. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  19. "Dennis Cagara – Alle hold (Alle kampe)" (in Danish). DBU.dk. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  20. Olsen, Søren (6 June 2003). "18-årig i topkamp". Politiken (in Danish).
  21. Tupas, Cedelf P. (9 October 2011). "Resilient Cagara boosts Azkals". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
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