| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Júlio Cesar Baptista | ||
| Date of birth | 1 October 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | São Paulo, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder / Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Málaga | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2003 | São Paulo | 75 | (10) |
| 2003–2005 | Sevilla | 63 | (38) |
| 2005–2008 | Real Madrid | 59 | (11) |
| 2006–2007 | → Arsenal (loan) | 24 | (3) |
| 2008–2011 | Roma | 57 | (12) |
| 2011– | Málaga | 15 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003 | Brazil U20 | 5 | (3) |
| 2001– | Brazil | 47 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Júlio César Baptista (born 1 October 1981) is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as an attacking midfielder or striker for Málaga CF of the Spanish La Liga. Baptista is nicknamed "The Beast" due to his physique.
Baptista began his career as a defensive midfielder, and after a series of impressive performances for his home town squad São Paulo FC, Baptista signed for Sevilla FC in 2003. Upon signing for Sevilla, he was converted into a forward, and in his two seasons, he scored 50 goals, leading to his 2005 transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid. After two unsuccessful seasons at Real Madrid with a loan spell at Arsenal sandwiched in between, Baptista transferred to Roma in Italy. On 3 January 2011, Baptista completed a move to Spanish club Málaga, signing on a three-and-a-half-year deal.[1]
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On 3 August 2003, Sevilla FC unveiled Baptista as their newest signing. He cost the Spanish club £1.75 million (US$3.75 million). Baptista made it clear he was confident that he would succeed in Spain.[2] He donned the No.19 jersey and began playing as an attacking midfielder. Baptista settled in quickly, bagging a double in Sevilla's 4–0 victory over Racing de Santander.[3] As the season progressed, his good form continued, including a double against Levante UD and once more hitting the back of the net against Racing de Santander, this time with four goals as Sevilla picked up a 5–2 victory at home.
His form attracted the attention of several big name clubs, but despite interest from English giants Arsenal, Baptista remained at Sevilla for the following season, in which he once more showed his worth registering 25 goals in all competitions.[4]
Between 2003 and 2005, Baptista made 81 appearances in all competitions for Sevilla and scored 50 goals in total, a terrific return that began a summer of transfer rumours in which Real Madrid battled it out with Arsenal for his signature.
On 25 July 2005, Real Madrid confirmed the signing of the long-time Arsenal target for a fee of £13.8 million (€20 million), rising to £16.9 million (€24.5 million); Baptista signed a five-year deal.[5] Baptista said he had chosen to remain in Spain at least one more year, as transferring to Real Madrid would allow him to gain dual citizenship (in Spain as well as Brazil), which would enable him to travel across Europe freely. He also explained he did not want to move to England at this time.[6] Upon his arrival at Real Madrid, Baptista was awarded the No.8 jersey.
The season looked very promising for Real Madrid; the big-money signings of Robinho from Santos FC, Baptista, and Sergio Ramos from Sevilla meant that Real Madrid were tipped to end their trophy drought. It was not to be, however. At Real, Baptista was often played out of position as a left-winger to accommodate the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Guti in the Spanish side's attacking line-up. For this reason, he was unable to find the form that led many of Europe's top clubs to sign him. He managed to score just eight league goals throughout the 2006 league campaign. The season ended in disappointment as Real Madrid yet again ended the season without a trophy.
Baptista insisted that Arsenal were still in pursuit of him, but he made it clear he wanted to fulfill his contract with Real Madrid.
At the end of August 2006, with the transfer window about to close, press reports linked him with a move to either Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal, with the latter as part of a possible swap deal including José Antonio Reyes; Baptista himself had strenuously claimed that he was not interested in a move away from Real Madrid. On 31 August 2006, however, the day of the transfer deadline, Baptista moved to Arsenal in exchange for José Antonio Reyes, the deal involved the two players swapping clubs on 12 month loan deals.[7] He scored his first goal for Arsenal against Hamburg in the Champions League on 21 November 2006.[8]
Baptista struggled to score in the Premier League, managing just three goals in 24 league matches. Baptista, however, found scoring form in the League Cup, with six goals in the competition, including a club record four goals in Arsenal's quarter-final victory against Liverpool on 9 January 2007, in a 6–3 win for Arsenal; beside his 4 goals, he also missed a penalty kick. Baptista also scored twice in Arsenal's semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur (having also scored an own goal at the other end), but they lost 2–1 to Chelsea in the final.
In total, Baptista scored 10 goals in 35 appearances for Arsenal.
At the end of the 2006–07 season, he was no longer required by Arsenal and returned to Real Madrid, as the loan deal finished. After the appointment of Bernd Schuster as head coach of Madrid, Baptista played far more often and in his preferred central position.
Baptista scored his first Champions League goal of the season against Lazio. Baptista then proceeded to score his second league goal of the campaign, bagging a magnificent first half goal off a one-two pass from Ruud van Nistelrooy in El Clasico against FC Barcelona. His goal proved to be vital as it was the only goal in a game that finished 1–0. This was only the second time Real Madrid had beaten rivals Barcelona at the Camp Nou in 24 years.
During the season, Baptista continued his good form. This led to many praising his good performances as he continued to keep Guti on the bench.[9] However, towards the end of the campaign, he lost his place in the squad, leading to another summer of speculation regarding his future.
Roma ended their search for another forward on 14 August, when they signed Baptista from Real Madrid. The Serie A club said in a statement that the 26-year-old had cost an initial €9 million plus bonuses and had penned a four-year deal worth €4.5million before tax and exclude bonuses.[10][11]
Baptista made his debut for Roma in the Supercoppa Italiana on 25 August 2008, but the team lost to Internazionale on penalties. Baptista converted his penalty kick. On 1 October 2008, he scored his first Champions League goals for the club, scoring a double against Bordeaux to give his side a 3–1 victory. Baptista scored Roma's winning goal in the his first Rome derby against Lazio.
In the Champions League, Roma drew Baptista's former club, Arsenal. He played in both games, the first at the Emirates Stadium, a ground he used to call home, and the return leg at the Stadio Olimpico. In the return leg, Baptista came on as an early substitute, following the early injury to Roma's goalscorer Juan. Baptista had a couple of chances to give Roma the two goal advantage that would have sent them through to the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, most notably a chance in the 79th minute, where he missed from 10 yards out with just Manuel Almunia to beat. Roma lost 7–6 in the ensuing penalty shootout.
On 3 January 2011, Málaga CF announced the signing of Júlio Baptista. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract.[12] On 14 January 2011, Roma announced that the transfer fee was €2.5 million.[13] He made his debut for Málaga on 16 January 2011 in a 4–1 defeat at Barcelona. One week later, on 22 January, he scored his first goal in a thrilling 4–3 defeat at Valencia CF.
Baptista, however, was injured during the match between Málaga and Getafe CF (and scoring from penalty in a 2–2 draw) and was operated in Brazil couple of days later. He returned to action on 16 April 2011 by scoring twice in a 3–0 home win over RCD Mallorca, taking the team out of the relegation zone.
On 1 October 2011, Baptista scored a dramatic late winner in a 3-2 win over Getafe with an outrageous overhead kick, on his 30th birthday.
Baptista has 46 caps with Brazil and has netted five goals.[14] His first cap came on 4 June 2001 in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, a 0–0 draw against Japan. He also played a limited part in the 2005 edition of the competition.
As Baptista often played out of position at Real Madrid, his form dipped, and he was not included on the 2006 World Cup roster. However, Baptista was re-called to the Brazil squad for the Copa América 2007 and scored the opening goal in Brazil's 3–0 victory over Argentina in the final on 15 July 2007. Baptista ended the competition with three goals.
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Brazil | League | Copa do Brasil | League Cup | South America | Total | |||||||
| 2000 | São Paulo | Série A | 14 | 0 | - | - | - | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2001 | 25 | 4 | - | - | - | 25 | 4 | |||||
| 2002 | 21 | 3 | - | - | - | 21 | 3 | |||||
| 2003 | 15 | 3 | - | - | - | 15 | 3 | |||||
| Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Copa de la Liga | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2003–04 | Sevilla | La Liga | 30 | 20 | 6 | 4 | - | - | 36 | 24 | ||
| 2004–05 | 33 | 18 | 2 | 0 | - | 8 | 5 | 43 | 23 | |||
| 2005–06 | Real Madrid | La Liga | 32 | 8 | 6 | 1 | - | 7 | 0 | 45 | 9 | |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2006–07 | Arsenal | Premier League | 24 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 10 |
| Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Copa de la Liga | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2007–08 | Real Madrid | La Liga | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 3 | 1 | 31 | 4 | |
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2008–09 | Roma | Serie A | 27 | 9 | 2 | 0 | - | 7 | 2 | 36 | 11 | |
| 2009–10 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 0 | 0 | 25 | 4 | |||
| 2010–11 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||||||
| Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Copa de la Liga | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2010–11 | Málaga | La Liga | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9 | |
| 2011–12 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
| Country | Brazil | 75 | 10 | - | - | - | 75 | 10 | ||||
| Spain | 137 | 59 | 15 | 5 | - | 18 | 6 | 170 | 70 | |||
| England | 24 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 10 | ||
| Italy | 57 | 12 | 4 | 1 | - | 8 | 2 | 69 | 15 | |||
| Total | 293 | 84 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 9 | 349 | 105 | ||
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