João Victor de Albuquerque Bruno (born 7 November 1988), known as João Victor, is a Brazilian former 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 played as a

defensive 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. ...

. He is currently coach at Toronto High Park FC

Playing career

Early career

Born in

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, João Victor played in his country with

Clube Náutico Capibaribe Clube Náutico Capibaribe (), or simply Náutico, is a Football in Brazil, Brazilian Sports club, multi-sport club based in Recife, Pernambuco. The club is most notable for its association football team, that plays in the Campeonato Brasile ...

, Associação Desportiva São Caetano and

Treze Futebol Clube Treze Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football team from Campina Grande in Paraíba, founded on 7 September 1925. Historically, the club has competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A several times. Recently, the club has competed only in low ...

, helping the first club to promote to Série A in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. In 2009, he joined compatriot

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

FC Bunyodkor Football Club Bunyodkor () is an Uzbek professional football club based in Tashkent that competes in the Uzbekistan Super League. Bunyodkor, a relatively unknown club at the time, made international headlines when it claimed to be close to sig ...

Mallorca

On 26 August 2010, both João Victor and fellow Brazilian Ratinho – his former teammate at Bunyodkor – signed a five-year deal with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

in Spain, following a successful trial. The former made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut on 26 September in a 2–0 home win against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, and finished his first season with 32 games (21 starts) as the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

side narrowly avoided relegation. On 7 October 2012, after just 15 minutes of an eventual 1–2 home loss to

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

, João Victor ruptured the

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

on his right

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

, being sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. He remained out of action until July 2014, and renewed his contract at the Iberostar Estadi for two further years on 21 August.

Later years

João Victor left for

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in the summer of 2015, joining

Anorthosis Famagusta FC Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

. He rarely settled with any team or in any country after leaving four seasons later, representing in quick succession

Umm Salal SC Umm Salal Sport Club () is a Qatari professional association football, football club based in Umm Salal, that competes in the Qatar Stars League, the highest tier of Football in Qatar, Qatari football. Previously called Al-Tadamun Sport Club, Umm ...

, OFI Crete F.C. and

Hyderabad FC Hyderabad Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Founded on 27 August 2019, the club began their first professional ...

. With João Victor acting as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, Hyderabad won the 2021–22 edition of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. He contributed five goals to the feat. On 9 April 2023, João Victor scored from 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 the 2–1 victory over

Aizawl FC Aizawl Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Aizawl, Mizoram. The club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. Founded in 1984, Aizawl earned entry in I-League in 2015–16 season, a ...

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

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

. He retired at the end of 2023–24, aged 35.

Coaching career

In January 2025, João Victor was named assistant coach at

Simcoe County Rovers FC Simcoe County Rovers Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Barrie, Ontario, that plays in the League1 Ontario Premier men's and women's divisions. The Rovers won the 2023 League1 Ontario championship and qualified ...

in Canada's

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

Career statistics

Honours

Bunyodkor *

Uzbekistan Super League Uzbekistan Super League (; ), known as Artel Electronics, Artel Uzbekistan Super League due to sponsorship reasons (; ), is the top division of professional association football, football in Uzbekistan. It is operated under the auspices of the U ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Uzbekistan Cup:

Hyderabad *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joao Victor 1988 births Living people People from Olinda 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Pernambuco Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Clube Náutico Capibaribe players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players Treze Futebol Clube players Uzbekistan Super League players FC Bunyodkor players La Liga players Segunda División players RCD Mallorca players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Qatar Stars League players Umm Salal SC players Super League Greece players OFI Crete F.C. players Indian Super League players Hyderabad FC players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Uzbekistan Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in India Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in India Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada