João Carlos Reis Graça (born 2 July 1989), known as Joãozinho, is a Portuguese 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 ...

who plays for G.D. Estoril Praia as a

left-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

Born in Lisbon, Joãozinho finished his development in the area with C.D. Olivais e Moscavide. His first years as a senior were spent with that club and neighbouring C.D. Mafra, always in the third division. Joãozinho moved straight to the Primeira Liga in the summer of 2011 after signing with

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

, initially on loan. He made his debut in the competition on 14 August, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 away draw against

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

. He finished the season with 26 appearances (24 starts), helping his team finish 12th and thus avoid relegation. On 15 December 2012, Joãozinho scored his first goal in the Portuguese top flight, closing the 3–1 home win over

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,5 ...

. He was loaned to

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

the following 21 January, with the option to make the move permanent for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

1 million in June. This did not come to fruition, and he agreed to a five-year contract at fellow league side

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

, being sparingly played until the departure of Elderson Echiéjilé to

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

. On 22 July 2014, Joãozinho joined

FC Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnis ...

from

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

on a year-long loan deal. After only six weeks, he left for Romania's

FC Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the m ...

also on loan. For the 2015–16 campaign, still owned by Braga, Joãzinho signed with C.F. União. In the following off-season, he agreed to a permanent two-year contract at K.V. Kortrijk from the Belgian First Division A. Joãozinho returned to Portugal and its top tier on 6 June 2017, with the

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

joining C.D. Tondela on a two-year deal. In January 2020, after a very brief spell in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

, he moved to G.D. Estoril Praia.

Career statistics

Honours

APOEL *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2019 Estoril *

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pri ...

: 2020–21

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joaozinho 1989 births Living people Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players C.D. Olivais e Moscavide players C.D. Mafra players S.C. Beira-Mar players Sporting CP footballers S.C. Braga players S.C. Braga B players C.F. União players C.D. Tondela players G.D. Estoril Praia players Moldovan Super Liga players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players Liga I players FC Astra Giurgiu players Belgian Pro League players K.V. Kortrijk players Cypriot First Division players APOEL FC players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Moldova Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus