Dennis Cagara

Dennis Cagara

Personal information
Full name	Dennis Mengoy Cagara[1]
Date of birth	19 February 1985 (1985-02-19) (age 26)
Place of birth	Glostrup, Denmark
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current club	Lyngby
Number	2
Youth career
0000–2002	Brøndby
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2003	Brøndby	7	(0)
2004–2008	Hertha BSC	8	(0)
2004–2005	Hertha BSC II	23	(1)
2005–2006	→ Dynamo Dresden (loan)	28	(2)
2007–2008	→ Nordsjaelland (loan)	18	(1)
2008–2010	Nordsjaelland	37	(1)
2010	AGF	14	(0)
2011	Randers	0	(0)
2011–	Lyngby	9	(0)
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–	Philippines	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:18, 9 October 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:05, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Dennis Mengoy Cagara (born 19 February 1985) is a Danish professional footballer of Filipino descent who plays as a left back. He is currently playing for Lyngby Boldklub and the Philippines national team. Cagara has also represented Denmark at various youth levels.

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

Biography

Born in Glostrup to a Filipino father and a Danish mother,^[2] Cagara started playing youth football at Brøndby IF. While at Brøndby, he made his international debut for the Danish under-16 national team in November 2000.^[3] Cagara turned professional in March 2001, as he signed a 2½ year contract with Brøndby.^[4] In April 2002, Cagara was reportedly scouted by Ajax Amsterdam scout Leo Beenhakker, but was found playing too nervously.^[5] 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.^[3]

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,^[6] 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. At the age of 18, Cagara made his debut for the Denmark national under-21 football team on 6 June 2003.^[7] In July 2003, Cagara signed a pre-contract with German club Hertha BSC, starting on 1 January 2004.^[8] 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.^[9]

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 suffered an injured Achilles tendon in May 2006, and could not represent Denmark at the 2006 European Under-21 Championship.

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 dealine passed, on 22 August 2007, Dennis 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 brilliant 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 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.^[10] He never made any first-team appearances for the club and was released at the end of the season.^[11]

On 7 October 2011, Cagara made his debut for the Philippines at the senior level at a friendly match against Singapore. The match ended up 0-2 in favor of Singapore.^[12]

Honours

Brøndby

• Danish Cup: 2003

References

1. ^ "Philippines preliminary squad - 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. http://www.the-afc.com/en/afc-challenge-cup-2012-schedule-results?view=teamdetails&compID=408&roundID=525&groupID=781&teamID=195&id=0. Retrieved 9 October 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Peter Sloth, "Supertalenterne: Skole-hader". Ekstra Bladet. 26 December 2002.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Dennis Cagara – Alle hold (Alle kampe)" (in Danish). DBU.dk. http://www.dbu.dk/landshold/landsholdsdatabasen/LBasePlayerInfo.aspx?playerid=4476&allmatch=1#match. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
4. ^ "Dennis Cagara på kontrakt" (in Danish). Brondby.com. 22 March 2001. http://brondby.com/article.asp?aid=10100. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
5. ^ "Beenhakker med tomlen ned" (in Danish). Fyens Stiftstidende. 19 April 2002. http://www.fyens.dk/article/426290:Sport--Beenhakker-med-tomlen-ned. 
6. ^ Allan Sørensen, "Dennis Cagara i fornemt selskab" (in Danish). onside.dk, 20 October 2002. The three debutants younger are Ronnie Ekelund, Brian Laudrup and Michael Laudrup.
7. ^ Søren Olsen, "18-årig i topkamp" (in Danish). Politiken, 6 June 2003.
8. ^ "Cagara til tysk fodbold" (in Danish). Brondby.com. 29 July 2003. http://brondby.com/article.asp?aid=12136. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
9. ^ "Cagara fra sygeseng til Bundesliga". Ritzau's. 29 December 2003.
10. ^ "Randers FC indgår aftale med Dennis Cagara sæsonen ud" (in Danish). RandersFC.dk (Randers Football Club). 17 March 2011. http://www.randersfc.dk/index.php?side=5096. Retrieved 15 June 2011. 
11. ^ "Cagara, Sarr og Fejzullahu får ikke forlænget" (in Danish). RandersFC.dk (Randers Football Club). 2 June 2011. http://www.randersfc.dk/index.php?side=5364. Retrieved 15 June 2011. 
12. ^ Cedelf P. Tupas (09 October 2011). "Resilient Cagara boosts Azkals". inquirer.net (Philippine Daily Inquirer). http://sports.inquirer.net/19499/resilient-cagara-boosts-azkals. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 

External links

• FC Nordsjælland profile (Danish)
• Danish national team profile (Danish)
• Brøndby IF profile (Danish)
• Official Danish League stats (Danish)
• Dennis Caraga at fussballdaten.de (German)

Persondata
Name	Cagara, Dennis Mengoy
Alternative names
Short description	Danish-Filipino association footballer
Date of birth	19 February 1985
Place of birth	Glostrup, Denmark
Date of death
Place of death