João Pedro Junqueira Jesus (born 26 September 2001), known as João Pedro, 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

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for club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Early and personal life

João Pedro was born in Ribeirão Preto to parents Flavia Junqueira and José João de Jesus, more commonly known as Chicão, a professional footballer for

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 ...

. Chicão was jailed for sixteen years in 2002, serving eight, for being an accessory to murder. By the time of Chicão's imprisonment, he and Junqueira had separated.

Career

João Pedro joined the youth system of Fluminense, and his mother moved with him to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. As he moved through the club's academy he switched from being a defensive midfielder, like his father, to an attacking midfielder, and then a striker. On 19 October 2018, before he had even made his senior debut,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

agreed a deal to sign João Pedro in January 2020 on a five-year contract. On 28 March 2019, João Pedro made his senior debut for Fluminense as a stoppage-time substitute in a 2–1 loss to arch-rivals

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

in the

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

. A month later on 29 April, he made his

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

debut as a late substitute in the 1–0 loss to

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

. He then proceeded to fire seven goals in his next four games, including a hat trick in a 4–1

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

victory against

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

. On 30 October 2019, it was announced that he had received his UK work permit and would sign for Watford in January 2020. He scored his first goal for Watford in a 1–0 win over Luton Town on 26 September 2020, his 19th birthday. He then scored a long-range goal on 16 October 2020 in Watford's win over Derby County. João Pedro scored his first Premier League goal against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 20 November 2021. He dedicated the goal to his late stepfather, Carlos Junior. On 15 January 2022, João Pedro scored the equalizer against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in the 88th minute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joao Pedro 2001 births Living people People from Ribeirão Preto Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Fluminense FC players Watford F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England