Antenor Junior Fernandes da Silva Vitoria (; born 10 April 1988), known as Junior Fernandes, is a Chilean 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 for Turkish club Manisa as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Cobreloa

The son of Brazilian parents, Fernandes moved from his native Tocopilla to Calama at the age of six, where he attended school along with his brother Christian. There, they participated in sports and music. While he lived in Calama, he joined the lower divisions of

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

, participating in each of their youth categories and was integrated to Cobreloa's B team that participated in the Chilean Third Division during the 2006 season. In this period of time, he shared team and home with countryman forward Alexis Sánchez. Later, in 2007, he was sent on loan to

Mejillones Mejillones is a Chilean port city and commune in Antofagasta Province in the Antofagasta Region. Its name is the plural form of the Spanish meaning "mussel", referring to a particularly abundant species and preferred staple food of its indigeno ...

(another third division team) after

gave up their reserve team. After the request of coach Lewis Sheldon, Fernandes joined Cobreloa's first team to face the Clausura tournament . His professional debut came in the fourth round of the championship, when he replaced

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Felipe Flores Felipe Ignacio Flores Chandía (born 9 January 1987) is a Chilean footballer who plays for Chilean Primera B side Magallanes as a striker. Career He has represented the Chile national team at the U-17, U-20, and professionals levels. In 20 ...

in a match that would end with a 2–1 victory over La Serena. His first time as a starter was in a game against Melipilla, which ended in a 5–1 victory, with Fernandes scoring a hat trick.

Palestino

In 2010, he played for

Magallanes Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallane ...

of the

Chilean Tercera División A Tercera División de Chile (Third Division of Chile), is the fourth tier of Chilean football (soccer). It is organized by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile and the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Amateur de Chile. It is both the fourth level of ...

where he became the figure of the team that won the championship and was promoted to the Primera B. His outstanding performance on Magallanes caught the attention of Palestino, joining them in 2011, and thanks to his good results, he later was nominated for the Under 25 Chile national football team.

Universidad de Chile

On 2 December 2011, Palestino agreed on the sale of 50% of his pass with a US$700,000 transfer to Universidad de Chile aiming to win the 2012 Apertura tournament, and thinking that the team will play

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

next year. On 5 December, he was presented in the offices of "the Blues" Sports Complex with the No. 9 jersey. Fernandes made his debut for the club, scoring and providing an assist in a 3–1 win over Deportes La Serena on 4 February 2012. In the league, he would score five goals. In the play-offs Apertura, Fernándes scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Colo-Colo on 24 June 2012. Elsewhere in the

, Fernandes scored a hat-trick and set up a goal in a 5–1 win over Godoy Cruz and soon scored a brace and providing an assist in a 6–0 win over

Deportivo Quito Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Seg ...

. Soon after scoring goals, he would receive criticism over his performance.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 6 July 2012, he signed for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

squad

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

from Universidad de Chile for a transfer fee of €7 million and a five-year contract. Fernandes made his debut for the club, scoring on his debut in first round of DFB-Pokal in a 4–0 win over Carl Zeiss Jena; seven days later, he made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in a 2–1 loss against

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. However, in his first season, Junior Fernandes playing time was reduced, as well his first team and haven't scored his first goal for the club.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 26 May 2013, it was announced that Fernandes signed a one-year-loan contract with the Croatian club

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

. On 23 April 2014, following the end of his loan spell, Fernandes signed a six-year contract with Dinamo Zagreb.

Alanyaspor

In January 2017 he was loaned to Alanyaspor until the end of the 2016–17 season. He returned to Dinamo for the 2017–18 season and scored twice against defending league champion

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

. However, as Dinamo failed to qualify into

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, losing to

Skënderbeu Korçë , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

in the play-off round, he moved back to Alanyaspor on a permanent transfer.

Ittihad Kalba

On 19 August 2020, Fernandes joined

Ittihad Kalba Ittihad Kalba Football Club ( ar, نادي إتحاد كلباء لكرة القدم‎) is a football club in Kalba, United Arab Emirates. History Ittihad Kalba was established in 1972 when two clubs ''(Al Shabab)'' and ''(Al Rooba)'' merged w ...

of the UAE Pro League.

İstanbul Başakşehir

On 23 January 2021, Fernandes agreed to a return to Turkey and joined

İstanbul Başakşehir ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

on a free transfer.

Manisa FK

On 16 January 2023, Fernandes agreed to a return to Turkey and joined Manisa in the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

on a free transfer.

International career

Fernandes was called up to the Chile national football team to face friendly matches during the second half of 2011 by team manager Claudio Borghi. He debuted officially in the national team on 11 September 2012, on a qualifying match for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. He was named in the preliminary squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

but was omitted from the final squad. He finally made the final squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 ...

, his first major tournament.

Honours

Club

Magallanes *

Tercera División de Chile Tercera División de Chile (Third Division of Chile), is the fourth tier of Chilean football (soccer). It is organized by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile and the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Amateur de Chile. It is both the fourth level of ...

: 2010 Universidad de Chile * Primera División de Chile: 2012 Apertura Dinamo Zagreb * Croatian First League: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Croatian Super Cup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the tw ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

International

Chile *

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament with four national teams, ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

*
Junior Fernandes
at Football-Lineups * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Junior 1988 births Living people People from Tocopilla Chilean people of Brazilian descent Chilean footballers Chile international footballers Chilean Primera División players Cobreloa footballers Club Deportivo Palestino footballers Universidad de Chile footballers Tercera División de Chile players Municipal Mejillones footballers Magallanes footballers Deportes Magallanes footballers Bundesliga players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Croatian Football League players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Süper Lig players Alanyaspor footballers İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players UAE Pro League players Al-Ittihad Kalba SC players TFF First League players Association football forwards Chilean expatriate footballers Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Germany Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates 2019 Copa América players