Zainadine Abdula Chavango Júnior (born 24 June 1988) is a Mozambican 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 centre back for Portuguese club Marítimo. He spent most of his career in Portugal with rivals

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

and Marítimo, making over 250

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, ...

appearances. A full international with over 60 caps for

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

since 2008, he represented the country at the

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange (telecommunications), Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial association football, football championship of Africa (Confederat ...

Club career

Born in

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

, Zainadine Júnior began his career with local

Desportivo Maputo Grupo Desportivo de Maputo, usually known as Desportivo de Maputo, Desportivo Maputo or by the acronym GDM, is an association football club from Maputo, Mozambique. History The club was founded on May 31, 1921, as ''Grupo Desportivo de Lourenço ...

and

Liga Muçulmana de Maputo Liga Desportiva de Maputo is a Mozambican association football club based in Maputo, Mozambique that plays in the country's top football division, Moçambola. One of the richest clubs in Mozambique, it was founded on 8 November 1990 and has won ...

. In late 2009, he and compatriot Mexer trialled at Sporting CP, but only the latter ended up signing. In August 2013, Zainadine Júnior finally got his move to Portugal's

, joining

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

. He made his debut on 22 September in a 1–0 home win over Académica de Coimbra, in which he assisted the goal by

Mario Rondón Mario Junior Rondón Fernández (; born 26 March 1986) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga I club Sepsi OSK. Club career Born in Los Teques, Miranda, Rondón arrived in Portugal at age 18, finishing his juni ...

. In 20 appearances as the team from

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

secured fifth place and

UEFA 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 ...

qualification, he scored once on 8 December to secure a 2–2 draw in the Madeira derby away to

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 Liga. ...

. After playing the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

with Tianjin Teda FC, Zainadine Júnior returned to Portugal's top flight on loan to Marítimo. The team ended the season in sixth and qualified for Europe, with him scoring the equaliser in a 3–1 home win over

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a football club based in Arouca, Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,000-seat capacity. History Founde ...

on 19 March; the goal was voted the league's best of the month. In July 2017, Zainadine Júnior rescinded his contract with Tianjin to sign for Marítimo. Two years later, he signed a new deal to keep him with the ''Rubro-Verdes'' until 2022. In April 2022, he signed a new two-year deal.

International career

Zainadine Júnior was called up to represent

at the

, where he was unused in a group stage elimination in Angola. He scored his one international goal on 8 September 2018 in a

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

at home to

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

, opening a 2–2 draw.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Mozambique's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Junior, Zainadine 1988 births Living people Mozambican men's footballers Footballers from Maputo Mozambique men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders GD Maputo players Liga Desportiva de Maputo players C.D. Nacional players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players C.S. Marítimo players Primeira Liga players Chinese Super League players Mozambican expatriate men's footballers Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in China Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal