Juninho Paulista
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| Juninho | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Oswaldo Giroldo Jr. | |
| Date of birth | February 22, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | São Paulo, Brazil | |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | None [1] | |
| Number | None [2] | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993–1995 1995–1997 1997–2002 1999–2000 2000–2001 2002 2002–2004 2004–2005 2005–2006 2007 2007-2008 [3] |
São Paulo Middlesbrough Atlético Madrid → Middlesbrough (loan) → Vasco da Gama (loan) → Flamengo (loan) Middlesbrough Celtic Palmeiras Flamengo Sydney FC |
45 (15) 72 (17) 55 (14) 29 (5) 78 (28) 27 (14) 41 (11) 14 (1) 65 (22) ? (?) 15 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1995–2002 | Brazil | 68 (11) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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"Juninho", full name Oswaldo Giroldo Jr., nicknamed Juninho Paulista,[4] (born February 22, 1973 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian footballer. He is currently without a club after being released by Sydney FC who participate in Australia's A-League.
He has scored five goals in 50 games for the Brazilian national team,[5] winning the 2002 FIFA World Cup championship and bronze medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics. During his career, Juninho has played for Brazilian clubs São Paulo FC, Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, CR Flamengo, as well as English club Middlesbrough F.C., Spanish club Atlético Madrid, and Celtic F.C. in Scotland.
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[edit] Club career
Born in São Paulo, Juninho began his senior career with local team São Paulo FC in 1993. He won a number of trophies with the club, including the 1993 South American Copa Libertadores championship, the 1993 Intercontinental Cup against Italian team AC Milan, and the 1994 Copa CONMEBOL. He made his debut for the Brazilian national team ("A Seleção") in February 1995, before moving abroad to play in Europe.
[edit] Middlesbrough
He signed for English club Middlesbrough F.C. for £4.75m in October 1995[6], just months after they had been promoted to the top-flight FA Premier League championship. Then aged 22, Juninho had been tracked by numerous European top clubs, and it was a major surprise when he signed for "the Teessiders". Juninho became known as TLF (The Little Fella) by Boro fans, and he is one of the greatest players to have played for Middlesbrough in the modern era. The nickname alludes to his height: only 1.67 metres. During his time with Middlesbrough, Juninho lived in Levendale and Ingleby Barwick with his parents. He was known for playing football with school children on the streets, however this rumour was dispelled by Juninho in an interview with Australia's Alpha Magazine.
For Middlesbrough, Juninho was extremely effective in the attacking midfielder position, where his skills helped the club reach the final of both domestic cup finals in 1997; the FA Cup and English League Cup finals, which were both lost. At the end of the 1997 season, a three-point deduction in the FA Premier League condemned Middlesbrough to relegation to the secondary Division One. He came runners up to Gianfranco Zola for the FWA Player of the Year award. For some time there had been speculation that Juninho would leave the club, and the relegation put paid to any realistic hope that "Boro" might have had of holding onto Juninho. Following Middlesbrough's 1-1 draw at Leeds United which confirmed their relegation, Juninho was reduced to tears.
[edit] Atletico Madrid
Juninho was sold to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish top-flight La Liga championship for £12m, and started out well for the team. However, his time at Atletico was hampered massively by injuries, and he never quite achieved the heights that were expected of him. He was loaned back to Middlesbrough during the 1999-2000 season, and scored four goals in 24 games for the club, before returning to Atletico Madrid. Upon his return, Atletico had been relegated to the secondary Segunda División. Juninho was then loaned out to Brazilian team Vasco da Gama. Here he played alongside namesake Juninho Pernambucano, and won the 2000 domestic Campeonato Brasileiro Série A championship and the international Copa Mercosur trophy. He also had a brief loan spell with Flamengo.
[edit] Middlesbrough
Juninho began his third spell with Middlesbrough in the summer of 2002, when he permanently left Atletico Madrid for £3.8m. He spent two years back at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium, and helped the club win the 2004 Football League Cup. In December 2007 he was voted by Boro fans in a PFA fan's poll as Middlesbrough's greatest ever player.[7]
[edit] Celtic
At the end of the 2004 season, he moved to Scottish club Celtic on a free transfer. Juninho made his debut in an Old Firm derby against Celtic's bitter rivals Rangers FC, as Celtic won 1-0. Like Irish international midfielder Roy Keane, Juninho won the man of the match award in his first Old Firm derby. Juninho never settled well at Celtic, as he claimed Celtic manager Martin O'Neill never gave him a chance.
[edit] Brazilian return
He returned to Brazil in 2005, to play for Palmeiras. He moved back to his former team Flamengo in 2007 for the Carioca Championship and the Copa Libertadores, but never won the trust of coach Ney Franco, playing only about half of the games. In May after a major discussion with the coach during Flamengo's loss to Defensor-URU, he was fired. Juninho was sacked by club Flamengo after arguing with and insulting coach Ney Franco after refusing to be substituted at half-time during the disappointing 3-0 quarter-final defeat at Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting in the Copa Libertadores.
[edit] Sydney FC
Although clubs in Brazil, Qatar and Hong Kong were reportedly keen in signing Juninho he opted to join Sydney FC in the Australian A-League as the club's marquee player signing on 3rd August 2007 [8], stating that the interest the club showed towards him made a strong contribution to the decision.
Due to a shoulder injury early in the season, Juninho spent large periods on the bench and his onfield performances were hampered by chronic pain, aggressive play and secondary injuries, requiring painkillers and cortisone before each match. Despite this he managed several strong showings including a masterful performance in Sydney's 5-3 victory over LA Galaxy.
Sydney's strong signings, which used a large amount of their salary cap, made a new contract look very unlikely. A number of A-League clubs including, Perth Glory, Gold Coast Galaxy, and Adelaide United have expressed their desire to sign Juninho, there has also been reported interest from Middle East and European clubs. Juninho was a standout performer, leader the club's attack by setting up many goals. However, he failed to score a goal for the club. He developed a strong friendship with fellow player Alex Brosque.
Due to several factors, the signing of a new Marquee player and many other highly valued players, including Australian National team player John Alosi, Sydney FC were unable to offer Juninho a new contract. He was released in the off-season between season 07/08 and 08/09.
[edit] International
Juninho has been capped more than 50 times for the Brazilian national team ("A Seleção"). During his international debut year of 1995, Juninho was given the prestigious number 10 shirt. This prompted Brazilian team captain Dunga to ask Seleção manager Mário Zagallo, "Why are you giving that skinny little kid a shirt?" After seeing him play, Dunga was sure that he had the credentials to play for A Seleção, and went on to praise his abilities.
Juninho was a friend of fiery tempered forward Edmundo, but the friendship apparently disappeared after Edmundo punched him in the face. Until 2006, they both played for Palmeiras.
Juninho helped his country to the FIFA World Cup title in 2002. He made a significant contribution, playing in 5 of Brazil's 7 matches in the tournament. In the tournament final, he came on as a late substitute, playing the last five minutes of the 2-0 win over Germany.
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
- São Paulo
- Copa Libertadores: 1993
- Supercopa Sudamericana: 1993
- Intercontinental Cup: 1993
- Recopa Sudamericana: 1994
- Copa CONMEBOL: 1994
- Brazilian Champions Cup: 1995
- Vasco da Gama
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2000
- Copa Mercosur: 2000
- Middlesbrough
- English League Cup: 2004
- Flamengo
- Taça Guanabara: 2007
- Campeonato Carioca: 2007
| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Brazil |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Football | |||
| Bronze | 1996 Atlanta | Team Competition | |
[edit] International
- FIFA World Cup: 2002
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "Sydney have no room for Juninho", FoxSports Australia, 2008-04-12. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
- ^ "Sydney have no room for Juninho", FoxSports Australia, 2008-04-12. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
- ^ "Sydney have no room for Juninho", FoxSports Australia, 2008-04-12. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
- ^ A nickname based on the common Brazilian diminutive Juninho, used for anyone with the word Júnior in their name, combined with Paulista, indicating his place of origin, São Paulo.
- ^ Juninho Paulista at SambaFoot.com
- ^ Juninho heads back to Boro
- ^ Moore, Shearer, Matthews and Edwards are the fans' favourites. But who has been voted the best player in the history of your club?
- ^ Juninho signs as marquee player, 3 August 2007
[edit] External links
- Juninho Paulista career stats at Soccerbase
- Juninho Paulista at SambaFoot
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