Amani Manuel Santos Aguinaldo (born April 24, 1995) is a Filipino professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a center-back for

Thai League 1 The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

club

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of ...

and the Philippines national team. He previously played for Thai League 1 club Nongbua Pitchaya.

Education

Aguinaldo attended Ateneo de Davao Grade School until grade 6 and transferred to the High School Department Far Eastern University's FERN College in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

where he attended high school. Aguinaldo is taking

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

at the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

. As of December 2014, he is on his second year.

Club career

After Aguinaldo was scouted by Coach Kim Chul-soo and program director Vince Santos both from Far Eastern University, which prompted him to transfer to

Far Eastern University – FERN College FEU Diliman, formerly known as FEU FERN College, is an educational institution at Sampaguita Avenue, Mapayapa Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1994 to commemorate the birth centennial of Dr. Nicanor B. Reyes Sr., founder an ...

where he attended high school. He played a year with the Far Eastern University at the college level before moving to the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

. He was later signed with the Loyola Meralco Sparks where he debuted as a substitute player at Loyala's stint at the

2012 Singapore Cup The 2012 Singapore Cup (known as the RHB Singapore Cup for sponsorship reasons) starts in May 2012. It is the 15th staging of the annual Singapore Cup tournament. 11 S.League clubs and 4 invited foreign teams play in this edition. The cup was ...

. He later transferred to

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

. in 2013. In 2018, he moved to another Filipino club Ceres-Negros. Ceres-Negros placed him on loan to Malaysian club PKNP where he played in the 2019 Malaysia Super League. In January 2020, he was signed for Thai club

Trat Trat ( th, ตราด, ), also spelt Trad, is a town in Thailand, capital of Trat province and the Mueang Trat district. The town is in the east of Thailand, at the mouth of the Trat River, near the border with Cambodia. Etymology ''Trat'' ...

ahead of the 2020 Thai League 1 season.

International career

Philippines U-22 Olympic

Aguinaldo was part of the Philippines U-22 Olympic squad that competed in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He was one of two senior players of the squad along with Stephan Schröck.

Philippines

In August 2013, he was named in the 21-man squad for the international friendly match against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on August 14, 2013. He earned his first senior international cap on the said match by replacing James Younghusband in 63rd minute. He made his first appearance for the under-23 national team in the 1–0 friendly match loss against

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

on June 13, 2013. Aguinaldo was a member of the Philippines' squad at both the

2014 AFC Challenge Cup The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the now ...

and the

2014 AFF Championship The 2014 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 10th edition of the AFF Championship, an international association football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of th ...

, reaching the finals and semi-finals respectively in each competition. During the latter tournament Aguinaldo was involved in a fair bit of controversy in the first leg of the semi-final as Thai striker

Adisak Kraisorn Adisak Kraisorn ( th, อดิศักดิ์ ไกรษร; born 1 February 1991) is a Thai professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Malaysia Super League club Terengg ...

was sent off for an off the ball altercation with the Filipino defender. It appeared that Aguinaldo might have provoked the confrontation and afterwards he and other Filipino footballers received threats from Thai fans.

International goals

U23

Personal life

Aguinaldo is an only child of Ariel and Maida Aguinaldo who both had roots to Davao. His name Amani is derived from an African title meaning both "warrior" and "peace". He was born in

Las Piñas Las Piñas, officially the City of Las Piñas ( fil, Lungsod ng Las Piñas), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 606,293 people. Las Piñas ...

, but due to his parents' professions his family moved to

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

and then

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

where Aguinaldo spent most of his childhood, before moving back to the

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

area where he attended high school. Aguinaldo took up football from his father at the age of five, and nine years later he was called up to the Philippines U-14 by future Loyola coach Kim Chul-soo. At the age of 16 Aguinaldo was selected to play for the u-21 side at the 2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy. During the tournament Aguinaldo was roomed with twins Marwin and Marvin and became good friends with both. His favorite teams are Manchester City, Bayern Munich,

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

, and Real Madrid, although his favorite footballer is

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguinaldo, Amani 1995 births Living people Footballers from Metro Manila Sportspeople from Davao City Filipino footballers Global Makati F.C. players F.C. Meralco Manila players Philippines international footballers Association football defenders University Athletic Association of the Philippines footballers Far Eastern University alumni Amani Aguinaldo Amani Aguinaldo Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Expatriate footballers in Thailand University of the Philippines Diliman alumni 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Competitors at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Southeast Asian Games competitors for the Philippines