Auro Alvaro da Cruz Junior (born 23 January 1996), known as Auro Jr. or just Auro, is a Brazilian 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 le ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

São Paulo

Born in

Jaú Jaú is a municipality in the center of the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, in Brazil. The population is 151,881 (2020 est.) in an area of . The elevation is . The city takes its name from the native fish species ''Gilded catfish, jau''. ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Auro joined

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state leag ...

's youth setup in 2010, aged 14. He made his first team – and Série A – debut on 7 September 2014, coming on as a first-half substitute for injured Paulo Miranda in a 2–0 home win over

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

. He was handed his first start three days later, in a 4–2 success at

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. On 23 September 2014, Auro renewed his contract with the ''Tricolor'' until 2019. A regular starter under manager

Muricy Ramalho Muricy Ramalho (born 30 November 1955) is a Brazilian former Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and Football player, player who is the current sporting director of São Paulo FC, São Paulo. During his playing career, he was as ...

, he lost his starting spot after the arrival of

Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

Loan Linense

In February 2016, Auro signed on loan with Linense for the

2016 Campeonato Paulista The 2016 Campeonato Paulista, Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 115th season of São Paulo (state), São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the twenty teams are ...

. In June, after featuring in only eight minutes for Linense, he was set to join

on loan (including being introduced by the club as a new signing), however, he was prevented from joining the club due to a Brazilian rule that prevents a player from representing three clubs during the same year, as he had already made appearances for Linense and São Paulo in 2016. Instead, he returned to São Paulo, where he mainly featured with the under-20 squad, winning two under-20 titles that season.

Loan to América Mineiro

On 14 January 2017, Auro joined

América Mineiro The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on loan, making a total of 16 appearances between

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

, and

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

. He started off well with América, but suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, requiring him to miss time due to an operation. He subsequently returned to São Paulo in 2018, after his loan spell had ended.

Toronto FC

On 13 February 2018, it was announced that Auro Jr. had been signed on loan by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

with an option to buy. He made the decision to come to Toronto after speaking to his São Paulo teammate and former Toronto FC striker

Gilberto Gilberto is the Iberian and Italian version of the originally Norman-French given name ''Gilbert'', used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages. In Galician, it's spelled Xilberto or Xilberte. ''Gilbert'' is ultimately derived from the Germ ...

, turning down opportunities to play in South America, Portugal and Spain (including with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

) in favour of joining Toronto. He made his club debut on 20 February 2018, in a 2–0 away win against the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

in the first leg of their round of 16

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

tie. He recorded his first assist on May 18, on

Ryan Telfer Ryan Telfer (born 4 March 1994) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a winger for USL Championship club Miami FC and the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Club career Early career Born in Canada, Telfer was raised in Trini ...

's game-winning goal against

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

. In his debut season with the club, Auro made 28 appearances across all competitions, registering five assists. On 17 December 2018, Toronto opted to purchase Auro Jr. permanently from São Paulo. In 2019, he was determined to be the best right-back in the league according to Opta advanced statistics. He scored his first goal in a pre-season exhibition match on 1 April 2021, from a penalty kick, against

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an Soccer in the United States, American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference ( ...

. At the end of the

2021 MLS season The 2021 Major League Soccer season was the 26th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The 2021 season included the addition of Austin FC as an expansion club, which took the l ...

, Toronto announced they were exercising their contract option on Auro, keeping him at the club through 2022.

Loan to Santos

On 14 February 2022, Santos announced the signing of Auro on a one-year loan deal with an option to purchase. He made his debut for the club on 8 March, replacing Vinicius Balieiro at half-time in a 1–1

away draw against Fluminense-PI, with his side advancing on penalties. On 22 November 2022, Santos announced that Auro would leave the club at the end of his contract. Toronto also declined his contract option for 2023, making him a free agent.

International career

At international level, Auro has represented Brazil at U-17, U-20, and U-21 level. He earned his first callup to play in the

2013 South American U-17 Championship The 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, link=no, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Argentina 2013) was the 15th U-17 tournament for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was held in Argentina. This tournament gave four b ...

, playing in all nine of his team's matches, en route to a third-place finish. At the

2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fifteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates between 17 October and 8 November. Nigeria won the tournament after defeating Mexico 3–0 in the final, cla ...

, in the quarter-finals against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, he scored his team's tenth penalty kick during the shootout which they lost 11–10, after the game ended 1–1 after extra time. He was called up for the U-21 squad at the

2014 Toulon Tournament The 2014 Toulon Tournament was the 42nd edition of the Toulon Tournament. The competition took place between 21 May and 1 June 2014 mostly in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of South Eastern France. Brazil successfully defended their title, ...

, where he was part of the championship winning team. He was called up to the U-20 team for the

2015 South American U-20 Championship The 2015 South American Youth Football Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 "Juventud de América" Uruguay 2015, pt, Campeonato Sulamericano Sub-20 "Juventude da América" Uruguai 2015, region=BR) was the 27th edition of the biennia ...

, playing in three matches.

Style of play

A versatile defender, Auro is usually deployed as a right-back, but is capable of playing on either flank. Regarding Auro Jr.'s playing style,

Tim Bezbatchenko Timothy Bezbatchenko (born October 13, 1981) is an American retired soccer player and president of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew. Playing career As a youth player, Bezbatchenko was part of the United States National Pool in 1999–200 ...

– Toronto FC's senior vice-president of soccer operations and general manager – said in 2018 that he is "...a very capable two-way player and an important part of our team. Auro Jr. is an attacking threat on the wing who also puts in solid defensive work."

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

;São Paulo * Série A runner-up:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Toronto FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

runner-up:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

; runner-up:

runner-up:

International

;Brazil U-21 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

References

External links

Toronto FC Official Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auro Jr. 1996 births Living people Footballers from São Paulo Brazilian footballers América Futebol Clube (MG) players São Paulo FC players Clube Atlético Linense players Toronto FC players Santos FC players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Brazil youth international footballers 2015 South American Youth Football Championship players Major League Soccer players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Association football fullbacks Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada