Juninho Pernambucano

For other people with similar names, see Juninho.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Ribeiro and the second or paternal family name is Reis. "Júnior" is a generational suffix used for someone whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.
Juninho Pernambucano
Juninho in 2014
Personal information
Full name Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior[1]
Date of birth (1975-01-30) 30 January 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Recife, Brazil
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1991–1992 Sport Recife
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Sport Recife 24 (3)
1995–2001 Vasco da Gama 188 (38)
2001–2009 Lyon 343 (100)
2009–2011 Al-Gharafa 40 (15)
2011–2012 Vasco da Gama 63 (15)
2013 New York Red Bulls 13 (0)
2013 Vasco da Gama 21 (2)
Total 597 (173)
International career
1999–2006 Brazil 40 (6)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Brazil
FIFA Confederations Cup
Winner 2005 Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior (born 30 January 1975), commonly known as Juninho Pernambucano or simply Juninho,[note 1] is a Brazilian former professional footballer who was most recently the sporting director of French club Lyon.[4] A dead-ball specialist noted for his bending free kicks, in particular the knuckleball technique which he developed,[5] Juninho holds the record for the highest number of goals scored through free kicks and is considered by many to be the greatest free-kick taker of all time.[5][6][7][8][9]

Juninho began his professional career in 1993 with Brazilian club Sport do Recife. Two years later he joined Vasco da Gama where he played over 100 matches and won six titles. In 2001, he joined Division 1 side Lyon where he played for the next eight years, winning seven consecutive league titles and scoring 100 goals in 343 official appearances for the club.[10] Following his departure from Lyon in 2009, Juninho played in Qatar with Al-Gharafa and in the United States with New York Red Bulls. The latter stint was wedged between two spells back at Vasco, where he ultimately retired in 2013.

Having made his international debut in 1999, Juninho played 40 games for the Brazil national team and scored six goals. He represented Brazil at the 2001 Copa América and was part of the squad which won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup before retiring from international football after the 2006 World Cup. From 2013 to 2018, Juninho was a football commentator for Brazilian sports network Rede Globo.

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Brazil" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Juninho" (in Portuguese). CR Vasco da Gama. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  3. ^ Dart, James (18 May 2005). "What's in a Brazilian name?". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Management - Olympique Lyonnais Groupe". investisseur.olympiquelyonnais.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Ranking the 16 Greatest Free-Kick Takers of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 14 October 2020. 1. Juninho Pernambucano. He was the greatest and most versatile free-kick taker there has ever been.
  6. ^ Carl Anka (12 December 2018). "Noughty Boys: No one hit a free-kick quite like Juninho Pernambucano". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference goal1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Rodier, Philippe (23 July 2015). "Qui Est le Meilleur Tireur de Coups-Francs de L'histoire?" (in French). Onze Mondial. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  9. ^ Atkins, Christopher (27 March 2013). "Why Juninho Pernambucano Is the Greatest Free-Kick Taker of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  10. ^ R.B (25 May 2009). "Juninho... ses chiffres lyonnais" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2010.


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).