João Paulo Santos de Oliveira Gomes, commonly known simply as João Paulo (born 25 May 1989) is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender currently playing for

São Cristóvão de Futebol e Regatas São Cristóvão de Futebol e Regatas, more commonly referred to as São Cristóvão, is a Brazilian football club based in the neighbourhood of São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, in the eponymous state, founded on 12 October 1898. It plays ...

Club career

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, João Paulo played

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

in his early career, and it was there that he caught the attention of

CR Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (; English: Vasco da Gama Club of Rowing), commonly referred to as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although originally a rowing club and then a multi-sport club, Va ...

scouts that brought him to their youth team in 2007. In 2009, he was promoted to senior, however he spent most of the time playing in the reserves squad of the major Carioca team. In 2010, he left Vasco and joined Tombense, but already that summer he was on his way abroad to Portugal by joining Portimonense SC. He made 3 appearances in the

2010–11 Primeira Liga The 2010–11 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga ZON Sagres for sponsorship reasons) was the 77th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. It began on 15 August 2010 and ended on 14 May 20 ...

João Paulo
at ForadeJogo.net and after that season he returned to Brazil. In 2012, he was playing with Cabofriense in the Campeonato Carioca Série B. In summer 2012 after passing trials, he would return to Europe by joining Serbian side

FK Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club based in Smederevo. At the beginning of the 2000s, the club (then known as Sartid S ...

References

1989 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Primeira Liga players CR Vasco da Gama players Tombense Futebol Clube players Portimonense S.C. players Associação Desportiva Cabofriense players FK Smederevo 1924 players Bonsucesso Futebol Clube players São Raimundo Esporte Clube (AM) footballers Ipatinga Futebol Clube players São Cristóvão de Futebol e Regatas players Resende FC players Olaria Atlético Clube players Esporte Clube São João da Barra players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal {{Brazil-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub