Edon Júnior Viegas Amaral (born 7 March 1994), known as Edinho Júnior, 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 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 ...

Career

Edinho started his career in Portuguese club

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

's youth team where he caught the eye of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

side

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 ...

, who were rumored to be interested in signing the player for £500,000.

Blackburn Rovers

In June 2012, Edinho went on trial at English club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and signed for the club on 25 July 2012 after impressing in the trial, for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. Edinho was allocated the squad number 19 and made his first team debut in a 2–1 win against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facil ...

, Edinho started the game and played in the first half, before he was replaced by

David Goodwillie David Goodwillie (born 28 March 1989) is a Scottish professional association football, football player. Goodwillie came through the Dundee United F.C., Dundee United youth system and he won the SPFA Young Player of the Year, SPFA and SFWA You ...

for the second half. On 13 February 2013 Edinho signed on loan for an

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

club

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining s ...

Shillong Lajong (loan)

Edinho joined the I-League side

on loan on 15 February 2013 until 30 June 2013. He made his debut against

Pune FC Pune Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club has competed in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. The club was one of the most professional clubs in Indian footba ...

on 24 March 2013. He scored two goals as the match ended 2–2. In total, he made six appearances and scored two goals for

. FIFA has made a documentary on him and his dancing skills for the club and released it as FIFA Football Mundial- A dancing 'Hero' in India.

Whitehawk (loan)

On 19 July 2013, Edinho joined newly promoted

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the ...

side

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was origin ...

on a one-month loan deal. On 18 September 2013, he returned to Blackburn after making three appearances for Whitehawk.

Harrisburg City Islanders

On 24 January 2014, Edinho joined

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, ...

side

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soc ...

on a free transfer.

Farense

In July 2014, Edinho joined Segunda Liga side Farense.

International career

Edinho made his debut for Portugal U19 on 8 February 2013, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute in a 3–0 friendly win over Norway U19. Then, in June 2013, he played in

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round is the second round of qualification for the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament. The 25 teams that advanced from the first qualification round, plus three teams that ...

against Bulgaria U19, a 7–0 win, and Czech Republic U19, a 4–1 win, coming on as substitute in both games.

Personal life

Edinho is the son of former Brazilian footballer

Edon Amaral Neto Edon Amaral Neto (born 21 February 1967), commonly known as Edinho, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker. Playing career Born in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Edinho played for modest clubs in his homeland. In 1990, he moved to Portu ...

.He is married with Bianca Iulia Safta Amaral since 2021.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edinho, Junior 1994 births Living people Portuguese footballers People from Faro, Portugal Portugal youth international footballers Association football forwards Liga Portugal 2 players English Football League players I-League players National League (English football) players USL Championship players Liga I players S.C. Olhanense players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Shillong Lajong FC players Whitehawk F.C. players Penn FC players S.C. Farense players S.R. Almancilense players CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players Portuguese expatriate footballers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate footballers in Romania Sportspeople from Faro District