Juan Nilo
Juan Carlos Nilo (born 31 January 1975) is an Australian football (soccer) player of Chilean decent who currently plays as a striker for Oakleigh Cannons in the Victorian Premier League.
Biography
Club career
Nilo started his senior career with then division 3 side Melbourne City as an 18-year-old before signing with Victorian Premier League side Springvale City, 2 seasons later. He has played in the top tier of Victorian football for most of his career since, only playing State League football in 2003 for Oakleigh Cannons, who he won the league with, promoting them to the Victorian Premier League. He is one of the Victorian Premier League's most dangerous strikers and is known for his silky South American style of play on the pitch and his great sense-of-humour off the pitch.
After playing one season with Springvale City, he then joined Sunshine Georgies which he scored 18 goals in 31 appearances. The following year he was on the move again, this time to Bentleigh Greens. In 1998, he had a stint with Heidelberg United, but little match time and some injuries didn't do well for his confidence, so he packed his bags and returned to Bentleigh Greens in 1999. After having a stellar year with Bentleigh in 1999, scoring 22 goals in 23 appearances, he was picked up by NSL side Gippsland Falcons who he played for 2 seasons until the club folded.
In 2001, Nilo again returned to the Bentleigh Greens side, earning him respect and fan-favourite status. He played 2 seasons with the Greens. However, in 2003 there were some changes within the club due to some bad results and a gloomy possibility of relegation. Juan Nilo was transferred mid-season to State League side Oakleigh Cannons who he almost single handedly gave them the title by scoring 11 goals in only 14 appearances. Oakleigh Cannons were promoted to the Victorian Premier League; their first match was against Nilo's old side Bentleigh Greens. Nilo scored 2 brilliant goals against his old side and Oakleigh Cannons defeated Bentleigh Greens 3-1 on debut. Juan Nilo is currently still playing with the Cannons is one of the clubs most popular players.