Josué Filipe Soares Pesqueira (born 17 September 1990), known simply as Josué, 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 lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

club Coritiba. He spent most of his career attached to

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, though he was often loaned out, and also represented Paços de Ferreira and

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. Abroad, he played for four clubs in Turkey's

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

, among them

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

and Galatasaray. He also had a three-year spell at

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, where he won the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

and the

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

in 2023, before joining Coritiba the following year. Josué made his full debut for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in 2013.

Club career

Early years and Paços

Born in

Valongo Valongo () is a Portuguese municipality located in the District of Porto and 10 km from Porto, in the northern region of Portugal. The municipality area consists of and 94,672 inhabitants in 2021, and it is subdivided into four parishes: ...

Porto District The Districts of Portugal, District of Porto ( ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro (district), Aveiro and Viseu (distric ...

, Josué joined

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

's youth system at the age of nine. He spent his first two seasons as a senior on loan, both in Portugal and abroad, representing successively S.C. Covilhã, F.C. Penafiel (both in the Segunda Liga) and

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

(

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

). In summer 2011, Josué was released by Porto with only two official appearances to his credit, both in the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

, and signed with F.C. Paços de Ferreira. He made his

debut on 17 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away loss against C.D. Nacional. In his

second year The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

he contributed 23 league appearances – 18 starts – as the club finished a best-ever third and qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, and was chosen as Best Young Player in the competition in the process.

Return to Porto

Josué agreed on a return to former side Porto on 29 May 2013, penning a four-year contract and moving alongside manager Paulo Fonseca. On 10 August he won his first club honour, coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 win over Vitória de Guimarães in the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

, and scored his first goal for his new team a week later starting and netting through a penalty kick in a 3–1 victory at Vitória de Setúbal. Deemed surplus to requirements at Porto as practically all Portuguese players, Josué then spent 18 months on loan at

. He made his

debut on 30 August 2014, coming on as a late substitute in a 0–2 home loss to Galatasaray SK, and helped the team to the final of the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

, notably contributing a brace to a 3–2 away defeat of

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

in the group phase on 24 December 2014. On 26 January 2016, he returned to his homeland and was loaned to S.C. Braga for the rest of the campaign, netting against his parent club in the decisive match of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

that was won in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

for their first such title in half a century. On 23 August 2016, Josué returned to Turkey, joining Galatasaray on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan. He scored his first goal for the

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based team on 25 December, closing a 5–1 home win against

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

six minutes after replacing Eren Derdiyok.

Osmanlıspor and Akhisarspor

Josué left Porto in August 2017, signing a two-year contract at Osmanlıspor again in Turkey's top flight. He was released in December, and resumed his career the following July with a deal of the same length at Akhisarspor. His side finished runners-up in the Turkish Cup to former club Galatasaray, with him scoring in both legs of a 5–2 aggregate victory over Kasımpaşa S.K. in the quarter-finals. In June 2019, however, after being relegated, he severed his ties to the organisation.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

In September 2019, Josué signed for Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

for two years, joining compatriot Miguel Vítor. Later joined by David Simão, they won the State Cup in his first season, with him scoring in the semi-finals against Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. on 10 June and the 2–0 final win over Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. on 13 July. Josué and Vítor halved their salaries in May 2020 to stay in Israel for another year. Ten months later, he extended his stay for one more season.

Legia Warsaw

On 21 June 2021, Josué joined Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

champions

on a two-year contract. He and his compatriot Yuri Ribeiro won the 2022–23 edition of the

, defeating Raków Częstochowa 6–5 on penalties. Josué scored 12 goals in 32 games in 2022–23 as the team from the

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

came runners-up to Raków Częstochowa, adding seven assists and being voted the league's Midfielder of the Season and also nominated for Player of the Season, which went to Kamil Grosicki. On 29 October that year, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 5–2 win at Jagiellonia Białystok; his performances earned him a one-year extension. On 5 October 2023, Josué was arrested by Dutch police alongside teammate Radovan Pankov after an altercation with security staff following a match against

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

; they were released the following day without charge. On 14 December, he assisted Blaž Kramer in the reverse fixture for a 2–0 home victory, securing qualification as second. The following day,

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

charged AZ with a €40,000 fine for failing to provide security for the Polish side at the AZ Stadium. In May 2024, Josué was again nominated for the Ekstraklasa Midfielder of the Season award. Shortly after, he announced on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

that he would leave the Warsaw Stadium on 30 June when his contract expired. During his last appearance for Legia,

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are known for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tendency ...

displayed a banner with the words in Portuguese: “Obrigado, capitão!” (). The fans gathered at the stadium to chant his name, and when he walked off the field in the 90th minute they honoured him with a standing ovation. He assisted both goals in the 2–1 win over

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by lo ...

, and later approached the '' Żyleta'' stand with his daughter to thank the supporters; his departure was due to the reluctance of the board of directors, most notably sporting director Jacek Zieliński, to hand him a new deal. The decision, announced three weeks before the end of the campaign, was met with resentment from club fans, with manager Gonçalo Feio also distancing himself from it.

Coritiba

On 14 August 2024, Josué signed with

club

Coritiba Foot Ball Club Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as heCoxa, is a List of football clubs in Brazil, Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Paraná s ...

International career

Josué won 26

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

across all youth levels, including 17 for the under-21 team. He made his debut with the full side on 11 October 2013, playing 21 minutes in a 1–1 home draw with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

qualifiers. In the second leg of the play-offs against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 19 November, Josué (who was not used in the game) extended his middle finger towards the opposing fans, while celebrating his country's qualification to the World Cup after the final whistle.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Porto *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Braga *

: 2015–16 Akhisarspor *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Hapoel Be'er Sheva *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

: 2019–20 Legia Warsaw *

: 2022–23 *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

Breakthrough Player of the Year: 2012–13 * SJPF Young Player of the Month: February 2013 *

Midfielder of the Season: 2022–23 * ''Piłka Nożna'' Foreigner of the Year: 2023 *Polish Union of Footballers' Ekstraklasa Team of the Season: 2023–24

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Josue Pesqueira 1990 births Living people People from Valongo 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Porto District Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto players Padroense F.C. players S.C. Covilhã players F.C. Penafiel players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players S.C. Braga players Eredivisie players VVV-Venlo players Süper Lig players Bursaspor footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Ankaraspor footballers Akhisarspor footballers Israeli Premier League players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Ekstraklasa players Legia Warsaw players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Israel Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Brazil