Agustín Julio

Agustín Julio Castro (born 25 October 1974 in Cartagena) is a Colombian Association football former player, who played as a goalkeeper.

International career

Julio used to be the number one choice keeper for the Colombian national football team. He had won his position after former number one goalie Miguel Calero allowed nine goals in two games. In his stint as the keep, he saved Colombia many times during the first two games of qualifiers against Brazil and Bolivia, and is now being referred to as San Agustin.

Julio was captain of Colombia for 9 out of the first 11 Qualifying games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Julio had a successful start to his captaincy reign with a huge win over Argentina . However questions were asked of Julio's captaincy after a 4-0 defeat to Chile. The captaincy and Julio's place in the team were soon lost after this defeat.

However, in a shocking turnaround Agustin Julio managed to regain his place in the Colombian side in the September the 5th match against Ecuador. Julio's Colombian side won the match 2-0 which took the side back into the playoff positions. Agustin Julio made a critical save in the 72nd minute of the match when Colombia when the score was still 0-0, Julio managed to save a low-shot with his feet from point blank range.

Agustin Julio remains a popular figurehead in Colombia, with fans petitioning on internet sites to re-instate Julio back in the team, Julio is also a popular player around the world; in fact, after a great performance during the first four games of qualifiers he was rated the 15th best keeper in the world.[1]