Juninho Pernambucano

Juninho

Personal information
Full name	Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Jr.
Date of birth	30 January 1975 (1975-01-30) (age 36)
Place of birth	Recife, Brazil
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Al-Gharafa
Number	5
Youth career
1991–1992	Sport Recife
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1994	Sport Recife	24	(2[1])
1995–2001	Vasco da Gama	111	(24[1])
2001–2009	Lyon	250	(75[2])
2009–	Al-Gharafa	20	(6)
National team‡
1999–2006	Brazil	40	(6[1][3])
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:17, 14/2/2010(UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:17, 14/2/2010(UTC)

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Jr. (born 30 January 1975 in Recife), commonly known as Juninho or Juninho Pernambucano,^[4] is a Brazilian footballer and dead-ball specialist, currently playing as a midfielder for Qatar club Al-Gharafa. He is considered to be one of the greatest free kick takers of all time due to his precise long ranged free kicks which contrast him from other great free kick takers in the history. Juninho led Olympique Lyonnais to 7 consecutive Ligue 1 titles before leaving the club in 2009 while scoring 100 goals in 344 games for Lyon,^[5] and six goals in 40 games for the Brazilian national team. He retired from international football after the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Life and career

Early career

He moved to CR Vasco da Gama in 1995, and won several trophies with the club, including the Brazilian Championship in 1997 and 2000, the Copa Libertadores in 1998, the Copa Mercosur in 2000, as well as the 2000 Brazilian Silver Ball award as one of the best Brazilian midfielders of the season. In that time, he was part of an incredisquad, playing with Romário, Edmundo, Juninho Paulista,Rashid, Felipe and Pedrinho.

King of São Januário

Before joining Lyon, Juninho played for Vasco da Gama in Brazil. While there, he won the Brazilian Championship twice (1997–2000) and two continental cups (the Copa Libertadores in 1998 and the Copa Mercosul in 2000), becoming a favourite of the Vasco fans.

Since that time he has been known as Reizinho de São Januário (The Little King of São Januário)^[6] or Reizinho da Colina (The Little King of the Hill),^[7] a reference to Vasco da Gama Stadium's name (São Januário) or nickname (Stadium of the Hill). Although he left Vasco for Lyon after a judicial fight, he is still considered a favourite of Vasco fans.^[8] Juninho has been citated in a classic chorus sang by the fans^[9] remembering his free-kick goal against River Plate, at Monumental de Núñez, during the 1998 Libertadores^[10][11] which helped the club reach the finals against Barcelona de Guayaquil.

Lyon

In 2001, Juninho moved abroad to play for French club Olympique Lyonnais. Before his arrival at Lyon, the club had never won the French Ligue 1 championship. In his first year at the club, the championship was secured, and it was subsequently won seven seasons in a row. At Lyon, Juninho made himself especially noted for his accurate, powerful and varied set pieces.

Having been regarded as one of the world's greatest free kick takers of the present day and possibly one of the greatest of all time, in addition, he is an effective passer, having provided many assists, and his leadership abilities prompted Lyon manager Gérard Houllier to name him team captain.

On 26 May 2009, Juninho announced that he would leave Lyon at the end of the season as a free agent. Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas explained to the media that the club and Juninho agreed to cancel the last year of his contract. During the press conference, Juninho was sitting next to Aulas and left the press conference without saying a word.^[12][13]

Al-Gharafa

On 17 June 2009, Juninho signed a two-year contract with Qatari club Al-Gharafa for a fee of €2.5 million.^[14] In his first season with the Al-Gharafa, Juninho captained the club to their seventh league title and wins in the Qatari Stars Cup and Qatar Crown Prince Cup, completing the treble. He finished the season with Player of the Year honors from the Qatar Football Association.

International career

Juninho made his debut for the Brazilian national team in 1999.

On 7 September 1999, he became the first footballer to play two top-level matches in two different countries in the same day. He represented his country in the second half of the friendly match between Brazil and Argentina in Porto Alegre, which Brazil won 4–2, playing about fifteen minutes. In spite of a delayed flight to Montevideo, he still arrived in Uruguay in time to feature in the second half of the Copa Mercosur match between Vasco and Nacional.

Juninho represented Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.Juninho scored against Japan in a group stage match.Following Brazil's defeat in the quarter-finals of the tournament, he announced his international retirement, as to make way for younger talents coming through the ranks in Brazil to build for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Juninho has been nominated many times for FIFA World Player of the Year award and France Football Ballon d'Or but has still not won it.

Playing style

Juninho free kick

Juninho has been described as "One of the world's most feared strikers of a static ball".^[15] As of 17 May 2009, Juninho has scored 44 goals from direct free kicks for Olympique Lyonnais,^[16] his latest being a strike from a long distance against Olympique de Marseille. With his free kick in Champions League against FC Barcelona he rewrote Olympique Lyonnais' record books as their highest ever European goal scorer with 17 goals.^[17] The method he uses for long-range free kicks is frequently "knuckle balling," where the ball has almost no spinning motion during flight. A successful knuckle ball will "move" or "wobble" in the air unpredictably, making it difficult for the goal keeper to save.^[18] He first made his name as a free kick taker in Europe with a long range free kick against Bayern Munich in the 2003–04 champions league group stage in which the ball dipped viciously at the end of travel that deceived Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn who was considered the best keeper in the world at the time. Actually, he is left handed.

In matches against another German side Werder Bremen and Spanish side Real Madrid he scored from free kicks ranged at around 35 yards from goal. On 23 May, the day of his very last game for Lyon, Juninho reached the 100 goal landmark total overall goal tally for Lyon through a penalty kick against Caen. He has scored from free-kicks beyond 40 meters on four occasions: a 41 metre screamer against AC Ajaccio in 2006,^[19] a 45 metre goal against Barcelona in 2007,^[20] a 48 metre goal against OGC Nice in 2008, and a 40 metre strike against Olympique de Marseille in 2009.^[21] Even before Lyon, he displayed his talent at Vasco da Gama, scoring several free kick goals for the club. Juninho has also scored memorable free kick goals for Brazil, the most famous being a curling shot from 27 meters against Greece in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. Brazil would go on to win the match 3–0. Also, Juninho scored two memorable free kicks against Nice in the 2008–09 season as Lyon were losing 2–0. Juninho rapidly pulled back his team by scoring one free kick that flew in the top corner and one from 48 yards away. Lyon went on to win that game as well with a converted penalty by Karim Benzema.^[22] Juninho's style of freekick taking has been adapted by players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba, though none have yet to master the technique and consistency of the Brazilian. Top football pundit Yusuke Okamoto stated that though Ronaldo and Drogba are good freekick takers, "Juninho was so good that he probably could score with a torn hamstring, whilst being blindfolded and under earthquake conditions".

Career statistics

Club career

International career

National team Club Season Apps Goals Brazil Vasco da Gama 1999[23] 4 0 2000[24] 3 0 2001[24] 4 0 Lyon 2001–2002[25] 0 0 2002–2003[25] 2 0 2003–2004[25][26] 7 0 2004–2005[26][27] 10 1 2005–2006[27][28] 10 5 Total 40 6

International appearances and goals # Date Venue Opponent Result Goal Competition 1999 1. March 28, 1999 Seoul, South Korea  Korea Republic 0–1 0 Friendly 2. March 31, 1999 Tokyo, Japan  Japan 2–0 0 Friendly 3. September 7, 1999 Porto Alegre, Brazil  Argentina 4–2 0 Friendly 4. October 9, 1999 Amsterdam, Netherlands  Netherlands 2–2 0 Friendly 2000 5. February 23, 2000 Bangkok, Thailand  Thailand 7–0 0 Friendly 6. October 8, 2000 Maracaibo, Venezuela  Venezuela 6–0 0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 7. November 15, 2000 São Paulo, Brazil  Colombia 1–0 0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 2001 8. July 12, 2001 Cali, Colombia  Mexico 0–1 0 Copa América 2001 9. July 15, 2001 Cali, Colombia  Peru 2–0 0 Copa América 2001 10. July 18, 2001 Cali, Colombia  Paraguay 3–1 0 Copa América 2001 11. July 23, 2001 Manizales, Colombia  Honduras 0–2 0 Copa América 2001 2002–2003 12. February 12, 2003 Guangzhou, China PR  China PR 0–0 0 Friendly 13. April 30, 2003 Guadalajara, Mexico  Mexico 0–0 0 Friendly 2003–2004 14. October 12, 2003 Leicester, England  Jamaica 1–0 0 Friendly 15. November 19, 2003 Curitiba, Brazil  Uruguay 3–3 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 16. March 31, 2004 Asunción, Paraguay  Paraguay 0–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 17. April 28, 2004 Budapest, Hungary  Hungary 4–1 0 Friendly 18. May 20, 2004 Saint-Denis, France  France 0–0 0 Friendly May 25, 2004 Barcelona, Spain Catalonia 5–2 0 Unofficial friendly 19. June 2, 2004 Belo Horizonte, Brazil  Argentina 3–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 20. June 6, 2004 Santiago, Chile  Chile 1–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 2004–2005 21. August 18, 2004 Port-au-Prince, Haiti  Haiti 6–0 0 Friendly 22. September 5, 2004 São Paulo, Brazil  Bolivia 3–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 23. September 8, 2004 Berlin, Germany  Germany 1–1 0 Friendly 24. October 9, 2004 Maracaibo, Venezuela  Venezuela 5–2 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 25. November 17, 2004 Quito, Ecuador  Ecuador 0–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 26. February 9, 2005 Hong Kong  Hong Kong 7–1 0 Friendly 27. March 27, 2005 Goiânia, Brazil  Peru 1–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 28. June 16, 2005 Leipzig, Germany  Greece 3–0 1 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 29. June 19, 2005 Hanover, Germany  Mexico 0–1 0 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 30. June 29, 2005 Frankfurt, Germany  Argentina 4–1 0 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 2005–2006 31. August 17, 2005 Split, Croatia  Croatia 1–1 0 Friendly 32. September 4, 2005 Brasília, Brazil  Chile 5–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification September 6, 2005 Seville, Spain Sevilla FC 1–1 0 Unofficial friendly 33. October 9, 2005 La Paz, Bolivia  Bolivia 1–1 1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 34. October 12, 2005 Belém, Brazil  Venezuela 3–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 35. November 12, 2005 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates 8–0 2 Friendly 36. March 1, 2006 Moscow, Russia  Russia 1–0 0 Friendly May 30, 2006 Basel, Switzerland FC Lucerne Selection 8–0 1 Unofficial friendly 37. June 4, 2006 Geneva, Switzerland  New Zealand 4–0 1 Friendly 38. June 22, 2006 Dortmund, Germany  Japan 4–1 1 2006 FIFA World Cup 39. June 27, 2006 Dortmund, Germany  Ghana 3–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup 40. July 1, 2006 Frankfurt, Germany  France 0–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Club

• Sport Recife
  • Campeonato Pernambucano: 1994
  • Copa do Nordeste: 1994

• Vasco da Gama
  • Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1997, 2000
  • Campeonato Carioca: 1998
  • Copa Libertadores: 1998
  • Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1999
  • Copa Mercosur: 2000

• Olympique Lyon
  • Ligue 1: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Trophée Des Champions: 2002, 2003, 2004
  • Coupe de France: 2008

• Al-Gharafa
  • Qatari Stars Cup: 2009
  • Qatar Stars League: 2010
  • Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2010

Country

• Brazil
  • Toulon Tournament: 1995
  • FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005

Individual

• Revista Placar Bola de Prata: 2000
• Ligue 1 Player of the Month: February and March 2005; October 2007
• Ligue 1 Player of the Year: 2006
• Qatar Football Association Player of the Year: 2010

Footnotes

External links

• Official Website
• Juninho Pernambucano Video
• FootballDatabase profile

Brazil squad Brazil squad – Copa América 2001 1 Marcos • 2 Belletti • 3 Cris • 4 Roque Júnior • 5 Eduardo Costa • 6 Roger • 7 Geovanni • 8 Emerson (c) • 9 Guilherme • 10 Juninho Paulista • 11 Denílson • 12 Dida • 13 Alessandro • 14 Luisão • 15 Juan • 16 Júnior • 17 Juninho Pernambucano • 18 Rochemback • 19 Fernando • 20 Alex • 21 Ewerthon • 22 Jardel • Coach: Scolari Brazil squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Dida • 2 Maicon • 3 Lúcio • 4 Roque Júnior • 5 Emerson • 6 Gilberto • 7 Robinho • 8 Kaká • 9 Adriano • 10 Ronaldinho (c) • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Marcos • 13 Cicinho • 14 Juan • 15 Luisão • 16 Léo • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Juninho • 19 Renato • 20 Júlio Baptista • 21 Oliveira • 22 Edu • 23 Gomes • Coach: Parreira Brazil squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Dida • 2 Cafu (c) • 3 Lúcio • 4 Juan • 5 Emerson • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Adriano • 8 Kaká • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Rogério Ceni • 13 Cicinho • 14 Luisão • 15 Cris • 16 Gilberto • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Mineiro • 19 Juninho • 20 Ricardinho • 21 Fred • 22 Júlio César • 23 Robinho • Coach: Parreira