Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior (born 22 February 1973), known as Juninho or Juninho Paulista, is a Brazilian former

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, rugb ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and is now the national team co-ordinator of the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

. During his professional career, he played for Brazilian clubs

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 GaW ...

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

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 ...

, as well as English club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

, Spanish club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

in Scotland and

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was f ...

in Australia. Juninho played 49 international matches for the Brazil national team from 1995 to 2003, winning the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

at the 1996 Olympic tournament.

Club career

Born in

, Juninho played youth football for FC Curvados e Orgulhoso, a local club set up in São Paulo, and for Esporte Clube DER, an amateur team based in São Bernardo do Campo (SP), winning two youth municipal championship in a row, as well as futsal at

Clube Atlético Juventus Clube Atlético Juventus (Latin for ''Youth''), commonly referred to as Juventus da Mooca or simply Juventus, is a Brazilian professional football club in the district of Mooca, São Paulo, that competes in Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the ...

Ituano FC

Juninho began his senior career with

Ituano FC Ituano Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as simply Ituano, is a Brazilian association football club in Itu, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Sé ...

, a team in

Itu The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...

, in 1990. In 1993, during a

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...

match against reigning champions

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 le ...

, Juninho scored and was voted man of the match as Ituano secured an unlikely victory. This grabbed the attention of São Paulo FC's head coach

Telê Santana Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was a Brazilian football manager and former player ( right winger). He was born in Itabirito, Minas Gerais. Telê was the manager responsible for putting ...

, who requested that his team buy the young talent. Juninho went on to be voted "Rookie of the Year" that season.

São Paulo FC

In 1993, Juninho was transferred to São Paulo FC, with whom he won a number of trophies, including the 1993 Intercontinental Cup against Italian team

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

and the 1994

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contes ...

. He made his debut for the Brazil national team ("''Seleção''") in February 1995, before moving abroad to play in Europe.

Middlesbrough

In October 1995, Juninho signed for English club

for £4.75 million, just months after they had been promoted to the English top-flight

FA 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 ...

. Then aged 22, Juninho had been tracked by numerous European top clubs, and it was a major surprise when he signed for "the Teessiders". Juninho became known as ''TLF'' (The Little Fella) by Boro fans, after local radio broadcaster Dave Roberts nicknamed the player on his football talk show. The nickname alludes to his height: only . During his time with Middlesbrough, Juninho lived in

Levendale Levendale is a small housing estate in the south-east of Yarm, in North Yorkshire, England, which is bordered by the River Leven. It is also known as Ingleby Grange. The estate is built in former area occupied by Leven Mouth Farm. Levendale ...

and

Ingleby Barwick Ingleby Barwick is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It is south of the River Tees and north-east of the River Leven. Large scale development of the town started in the late 1970s on farm l ...

with his parents. He was known for playing football with school children on the streets and is still considered one of the greatest players to have played for Middlesbrough in the modern era. He made his debut on 4 November 1995 at home to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, setting up the opening goal for

Jan Åge Fjørtoft Jan Åge Fjørtoft (born 10 January 1967) is a Norwegian former professional footballer. A powerful centre forward with goalscoring ability, he played professionally in Norway, Austria, England and Germany. He appeared in 71 international matches ...

in a 1–1 draw. Juninho proved extremely effective as an attacking midfielder, and his skills helped the club reach the final of both the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

and

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in 1997, although they lost both. At the end of the 1997 season, a three-point deduction condemned Middlesbrough to

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

to the second division; following a 1–1 draw at

on the final day of the season which confirmed the club's relegation, Juninho was reduced to tears. Despite the club's relegation, Juninho came runner up to Gianfranco Zola for the FWA Player of the Year award. Ultimately, Juninho left Middlesbrough to pursue his chances of making Brazil's 1998 World Cup squad. Juninho scored 17 goals in 74 games during his first time at Middlesbrough.

Atlético Madrid

Juninho was sold to

for £13m, and started out well for the team. However, his time at Atlético was hampered massively by injuries, and he never quite achieved the heights that were expected of him. On 1 February 1998, during a league match against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blu ...

, a tackle by opponent defender

Míchel Salgado Miguel Ángel "Míchel" Salgado Fernández (born 22 October 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back. Nicknamed ''Il Due'' ("two" in Italian), he was known for his combative tackling and attacking play. After excellent d ...

broke Juninho's

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity ...

, sidelining the Brazilian for six months and thus making him miss the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. Juninho was loaned back to Middlesbrough (who by then had been promoted back to the Premier League) during the 1999–2000 season, and scored four goals in 24 games for the club, before returning to Atlético Madrid. Upon his return, Atlético had been relegated to the secondary

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the L ...

. Juninho was then loaned out to Brazilian team Vasco da Gama, where he played alongside another Juninho, Juninho Pernambucano; he then earned the demonym "Paulista" in order to be differentiated from his teammate. He won the 2000 domestic

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

championship and the international Copa Mercosur trophy. He also had a brief loan spell with Flamengo.

Return to Middlesbrough

Juninho began his third spell with Middlesbrough in the summer of 2002, when he permanently left

for £6m. He spent two years back at Middlesbrough's

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

, and helped the club win the 2003–04 Football League Cup, the team's first and so far only major honour. In December 2007 he was voted by Boro fans in a PFA fan's poll as Middlesbrough's greatest ever player. Juninho is still seen as a hero on Teesside by many Middlesbrough fans – soon after he joined Middlesbrough in 1995 Boro fans would put out both their arms and bow forwards in worship during matches, this continued even through to his third spell at the club. Juninho said he would love a fourth spell at the Boro to end his career, however no such opportunity materialised. Ultimately, although he did have a higher goals-to-games ratio during this period than in either of his previous two spells at the club, Juninho never fully recaptured his mesmerising form of the 1996–97 season and never fully recovered from the broken leg he suffered during his time at Atlético Madrid. Nonetheless he remained a legend on Teesside and maintains an iconic status to this day.

Celtic

At the end of the 2004 season, Juninho moved to Scottish club

on a free transfer, making his debut in an

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

derby against Celtic's rivals Rangers, which Celtic won 1–0. Juninho struggled to break into the first team during his time with Celtic, and complained that manager

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his play ...

didn't play him enough. Instead of playing in his usual position in the middle of the pitch, Juninho was often deployed on the right by O'Neill, due to the presence of already established Celtic midfielders Stiliyan Petrov and

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

. Juninho scored only once in his spell at Celtic, in a 3–0 win over Hearts in October 2004.

Brazilian return

Juninho returned to Brazil in 2005, to play for

. He moved back to his former team Flamengo in 2007 for the Carioca Championship and the Copa Libertadores, but never won the trust of coach

Ney Franco Ney Franco da Silveira Júnior (born 22 July 1966), known as Ney Franco, is a Brazilian football manager. Career Born in Vargem Alegre, Minas Gerais, Franco worked in Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro's youth categories before being named the l ...

, playing only about half of the games. In May that year, Juninho was sacked after arguing with and insulting Franco after refusing to be substituted at half-time during a disappointing 3–0 quarter-final defeat at Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting in the Copa Libertadores.

Sydney FC

Although clubs in Brazil, Qatar, and Hong Kong were reportedly keen on signing Juninho, he opted to join

in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

as the club's

marquee player A marquee player is an athlete who is considered exceptionally popular, skilled, or otherwise outstanding, especially in professional sports. Its name comes from theater marquees, on which the names of the stars of productions in said theater ar ...

, signing on 1 August 2007, stating that the interest the club showed towards him made a strong contribution to the decision. Due to a shoulder injury early in the season, Juninho spent large periods on the bench and his on-field performances were hampered by chronic pain, aggressive play, and secondary injuries, requiring painkillers and cortisone before each match. Despite this, he managed several strong showings including a masterful performance in Sydney's 5–3 victory over

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began p ...

. Sydney's strong signings, which used a large amount of their salary cap, made a new contract look unlikely. A number of A-League clubs including

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...

, and

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

expressed their desire to sign Juninho. Following the signing of a new marquee player and other players, including Australian international

John Aloisi John Aloisi () (born 5 February 1976) is an Australian former soccer player and current head coach of A-League club Western United. In a professional career that spanned 20 seasons, with league totals of 459 games and 127 goals, he was the firs ...

, Sydney FC declined to offer Juninho a new contract. He was released in the off-season in April 2008. Juninho later announced his retirement from professional football.

Return to playing

In January 2010, Juninho returned to the game as player-president of Brazilian club Ituano, and on the last day of the season, with his impending retirement, he scored the goal that saved them from relegation. He also returned to Middlesbrough where he featured in his own testimonial in which

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

defeated Middlesbrough 3–2.

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

São Paulo *

Supercopa Libertadores The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by t ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

Vasco da Gama * Série A:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

* Copa Mercosur:

Middlesbrough *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 2003–04 Flamengo *

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 ...

: 2007 Brazil *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Individual *

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

: March 1997 *

Premier League Player of the Season The Premier League Player of the Season is an annual association football award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the ...

: 1996–97 * Middlesbrough Player of the Year: 1996–97 * North-East FWA Player of the Year: 1997 * Bola de Prata: 2000, 2005 *South American Team of the Year: 2000, 2001

References

Notes Citations

Sources

External links

* *
Premier League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juninho Paulista 1973 births Living people Footballers from São Paulo Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders São Paulo FC players Middlesbrough F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers CR Vasco da Gama players CR Flamengo footballers Celtic F.C. players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Sydney FC players Ituano FC players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Premier League players La Liga players Scottish Premier League players A-League Men players Marquee players (A-League Men) Olympic footballers of Brazil Brazil international footballers 1995 Copa América players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Copa Libertadores-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players FIFA World Cup-winning players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate soccer players in Australia FA Cup Final players