João Paulo Silva Martins (born 29 June 1995), known as João Paulo (), is a Brazilian

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 for Santos as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Career

Santos

Born in

Dourados Dourados is a city and municipality, situated in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Southwest of Campo Grande (the state's capital). It has a population of about 225,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly in arable agriculture ( ...

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

, João Paulo joined Santos' youth setup in late 2011, after representing

São Carlos São Carlos (Saint Charles, in English, ; named after Charles Borromeo, Saint Charles Borromeo) is a Brazilian city and municipality in the Interior of São Paulo, interior of the state of São Paulo, 254 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. ...

Itaporã Itaporã is a municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinat ...

(where he was a part of the first team squad at the age of just 16), Grêmio (where he spent just four months in a trial period) and Sete de Setembro. In 2014, after winning the year's

Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior The Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior (or ''São Paulo Youth Football Cup'', in English), also known as Copa São Paulo de Juniores (''São Paulo Youth Cup'') and Copinha (''Little Cup''), is a cup competition played by Brazilian under-20 assoc ...

, he was promoted to the first team by manager

Oswaldo de Oliveira Oswaldo de Oliveira Filho (born 5 December 1950), known as Oswaldo de Oliveira, is a Brazilian football manager. Manager career Born in Rio de Janeiro, Oswaldo de Oliveira became the first team coach for Corinthians in 1999 when Vanderlei Luxem ...

. In March 2015, after Vanderlei's injury, João Paulo was inscribed in the year's

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

as a third-choice behind

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

and Gabriel Gasparotto. In November of that year, he renewed his contract until 2018. João Paulo made his unofficial first team debut on 8 October 2016, playing the last 20 minutes and saving a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in a 1–1 friendly draw against Benfica. On 16 July of the following year, after both Vanderlei and Vladimir were injured, he made his professional – and Série A – debut by starting in a 0–0 away draw against

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. On 10 October 2017, João Paulo renewed his contract until 2021. He started to appear more regularly during the 2020 season, as Vanderlei left, Vladimir was injured and Everson took a legal action against the club, and renewed his contract until 2025 on 8 September 2020. João Paulo made his

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

debut on 15 September 2020, starting in a 0–0 home draw against

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional sports club based in the city of Asunción. It promotes the practice of various sports, with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, football being the most successful. Fou ...

. On 9 November, he and two other teammates tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. On 14 December 2021, João Paulo renewed his contract with Santos until November 2026. The following 28 February, he played his 100th match for the club, a 2–2 home draw against Novorizontino. On 9 January 2023, João Paulo further extended his contract with Santos until the end of 2027. He played his 200th match for the club on 8 October, a 2–1 away win over

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

, and was an undisputed starter in the club's first-ever relegation from the top tier. On 24 May 2024, during a Série B match against

América Mineiro The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, João Paulo suffered an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the year; in the play, which resulted in Renato Marques' opening goal for América, several players and media complained about the lack of fair play from the goalscorer. Upon returning, he became a backup option to Gabriel Brazão, and returned to action on 23 February 2025, as Brazão was out with an injury.

Career statistics

Honours

Santos *

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 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual *

Team of the Year:

References

External links

Santos FC profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joao Paulo 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Dourados Footballers from Mato Grosso do Sul Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Santos FC players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen