Juninho Pernambucano

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior (born 30 January 1975), commonly known as Juninho or Juninho Pernambucano,[note 1] is a Brazilian former footballer, who is currently the sporting director of Olympique Lyonnais.[3] Noted for his bending free kicks (particularly the knuckleball technique which he developed),[4] Juninho holds the record for the highest number of goals scored through free kicks (75) and many consider him to be the greatest free kick-taker of all time.[4][5][6][7][8]

Juninho Pernambucano

Juninho in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior
Date of birth	30 January 1975
Place of birth	Recife, Brazil
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s)	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	248	(75)
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	(148)
National team
1999–2006	Brazil	40	(6)
Honours Representing  Brazil Men's football FIFA Confederations Cup Winner 2005 Germany
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais where he played for the next eight years, winning seven consecutive league titles and scoring 100 goals in 343 official appearances for the club.[9] 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 Brazilian 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.

Club career

Sport Recife

Born in Recife, Juninho started his professional career at Sport Recife and quickly established himself as a rising star in Brazilian football. He won two regional titles with the club. According to Juninho, it was as a 13-year-old that he started to take free-kicks and began to develop his knuckleball technique, telling FourFourTwo magazine: “I started by copying free-kicks taken by Marcelinho, who played for Corinthians. He was one of my inspirations, and the first player I had ever seen hit the ball head on and make it dance in the air. Didi, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958 and 1962, was doing it back then, too. Everyone since has just been tweaking the formula.”[10] It was when he got to France that Juninho says he mastered it.[10]

Vasco da Gama

Juninho Pernambucano joined Vasco da Gama in 1995.[11] He won several trophies during his first stint with the club, including the Brazilian Championship in 1997 and 2000, the Copa Libertadores in 1998, the Copa Mercosur in 2000,[12] as well as the 2000 Brazilian Silver Ball award as one of the best Brazilian midfielders of the season.[13] At that time, he was playing with Romário, Edmundo, and Juninho Paulista, and he became a favourite of the Vasco fans.[14] Since that time he has been known as Reizinho de São Januário (The Little King of São Januário),[6] a reference to Vasco da Gama's stadium, as well as Reizinho da Colina (The Little King of the Hill).[11][15]

In 2001, the player won a preliminary injunction against Vasco da Gama, after which he became a free agent.[16] Although he left Vasco for Lyon after a judicial fight, he is still considered a favourite of Vasco fans.[15] Juninho has been cited in a classic chorus sung by the fans remembering his free-kick goal against River Plate[15] at River Plate Stadium, during the 1998 Libertadores which helped the club reach the finals against Barcelona de Guayaquil. Juninho played 295 games for Vasco from 1995–2001.[17]

Olympique Lyonnais

Juninho during his time with Lyon in 2006

In 2001, Juninho moved abroad to play for French club Olympique Lyonnais. Before his arrival at Lyon, the club had never won the French championship.[18] Starting out in his first season at the club, Olympique Lyonnais won seven league titles in a row;[6][18] along with his former Lyon teammates Grégory Coupet and Sidney Govou, he holds the record for most Ligue 1 titles won (seven), along with Hervé Revelli and Jean-Michel Larqué of Saint-Étienne, as well as Thiago Silva and Marco Verratti of Paris Saint–Germain.[19] At Lyon, Juninho made himself especially noted for his accurate, powerful and varied set pieces. As well as often being ranked the world's greatest free kick exponent, Juninho was a noted passer, providing many assists, and his leadership abilities prompted Lyon manager Gérard Houllier to name him team captain.[20]

Juninho Pernambucano scored 100 goals while at Lyon.[21] Forty-four of those goals were scored from free-kicks,[21] the last of which was a strike from long distance against Olympique de Marseille.[22] He scored his 100th goal on his last game for Lyon, through a penalty kick against Caen.[23] Juninho was also a prolific goalscorer in the Champions League, and he matched Sonny Anderson as the club's top goalscorer in European competitions with 16 goals, on a match against Steaua Bucharest in November 2008.[24] He later became Lyon's top goalscorer in the Champions League with 18 goals,[21] while reaching three quarter-finals in the competition.[21]

On 26 May 2009, Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas announced in a press conference that the club had accepted Juninho's request to leave Lyon at the end of the season as a free agent, despite the fact that the player still had a year left in his contract.[18][21] During the press conference, Juninho sat next to Aulas and left without saying a word.[25]

Al-Gharafa

On 17 June 2009, Juninho signed a €2.5 million, two-year contract with Qatari club Al-Gharafa.[26] In his first season with the club, Juninho captained the team to their seventh league title and wins in the Qatari Stars Cup and Qatar Crown Prince Cup, completing the treble. He finished the season with Player of the Year honours from the Qatar Football Association. Juninho played 66 games for Al-Gharafa Sports Club and scored 25 goals.

Return to Vasco da Gama

On 27 April 2011, Juninho rejoined his former club Vasco da Gama. He scored his first goal for them in his first game back, via a freekick against Corinthians. He scored another 2 free kicks and a penalty during the course of the Brazilian top flight season. On 28 March 2012, he played and scored a goal for a 4–1 lead in Edmundo's farewell game against Barcelona Sporting Club. Vasco went on to win this game 9-1.[27] Juninho then scored a trademark free kick against Esporte Clube Bahia in the fourth round of the Campeonato Brasileiro; that goal was to be his 16th since returning to Vasco from Al-Gharafa Sports Club.

In July 2012, Juninho extended his contract with Vasco for 6 months. On 18 July 2012, he made his 350th appearance for the club against São Paulo FC. In August 2012 he played against his youth team Sport Club do Recife and scored a free kick goal, which was his fourth goal from free kicks in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2012. Juninho played in 370 official matches for Vasco scoring 88 goals.

New York Red Bulls

On 17 December 2012, Juninho signed for Major League Soccer team New York Red Bulls.[14][28] He made his first appearance for the team on a friendly match against Malmö, in which he was a starter.[29] On 3 March 2013 Juninho made his official debut for Red Bulls, playing the full time in a 3-3 draw against Portland Timbers.[30] On 3 July 2013 NY Red Bulls announced that they reached an agreement with Juninho for the cancelation of his contract.[31] The midfielder featured in 13 games for the New York Red Bulls, providing the team with four assists.[32]

Third stint with Vasco da Gama and retirement

On 11 July 2013, Vasco da Gama announced Juninho's return to the club.[33] The player scored and assisted in his third debut for Vasco, in a 3–1 victory against rivals Fluminense.[34] He scored his first home goal of the season against Criciúma with a 32-metre free kick,[22] also assisting Edmílson for the third goal of the game.[35] He played his third game for Vasco da Gama against another rival team Botafogo, setting up Andre for Vasco's first goal, in a 3–2 defeat. He played his sixth game against Grêmio and made another assist. It was his fourth assist in Campeonato Brasileiro. Juninho made his fifth assist against Sport Club Corinthians Paulista; the game ended in a 1–1 draw. He played his 16th game against Vasco rivals Botafogo and made two assists; the game ended with a 2–2 draw after Botafogo had led 2–0. Juninho played 16 games for Vasco in his third stint with the club, scoring 2 goals and making 7 assists in the Campeonato Brasileiro.

He retired from playing professional football on 2 February 2014.[12] During his years at Vasco da Gama, Juninho won six titles: the Brazilian Championship in 1997 and 2000, the Campeonato Carioca in 1998, the Rio-São Paulo Tournament in 1999, the Copa Libertadores in 1998, and the Copa Mercosur in 2000.[12]

Following his retirement, Juninho worked as a football commentator for Brazilian sports network Rede Globo, a stint that ended up in 2018.[36][37]

International career

On 7 September 1999, Juninho Pernambucano played two top-level matches in two different countries in the same day. He represented his country in the second half of the friendly match between Brazil and Argentina in Porto Alegre, which Brazil won 4–2, playing about fifteen minutes. In spite of a delayed flight to Montevideo, he managed to arrive in Uruguay in time to feature in the second half of the Copa Mercosur match between Vasco and Nacional. He took part at the 2001 Copa América with Brazil.

Although Juninho had a period of prolonged domestic success during the 2000s, that contributed to him being considered as one of the best Brazilian players in the world at the time, he was not selected for the Brazilian squad that featured in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and in the 2004 Copa América missing both because of a recurring knee injury. Brazil would win both tournaments. He was however a member of the Brazil squad that won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup Juninho scored against Japan in a group stage match. Following Brazil's defeat to eventual runners-up France in the quarter-finals of the tournament, he announced his international retirement,[38] so as to make way for younger talents coming through the ranks in Brazil, in order to build for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[39]

Director career

Olympique Lyonnais

In May 2019, Juninho was appointed as the director of football of his former club Olympique Lyonnais. His first decision was to name former Brazilian international teammate Sylvinho as the head coach of the French Ligue 1 team.[40]

Style of play

"Say Juninho Pernambucano's name, and the first response is likely to be, "Great free kicks." He was the greatest and most versatile free-kick taker there has ever been. Through his early years at Vasco da Gama and his eight-year stint at Lyon, Juninho developed his knuckleball technique. Whether 20, 30 or 40 yards from goal, the hits were often so pure, of such quality and ferocity, that goalkeepers simply couldn't do anything about them."

— Alex Richards in Bleacher Report ranking Juninho the greatest free-kick exponent of all time.[4]

Juninho has been described as "one of the world's most feared strikers of a static ball".[41] Frequently ranked the greatest free-kick exponent, the method he used for long-range free kicks is "knuckle balling", where the ball has almost no spinning motion during flight.[42] A successful knuckle ball will "move" or "wobble" in the air unpredictably, veering in a number of different directions (making it difficult to save) before finding the net.[4] He first made his name as a free kick taker with a long range strike against Bayern Munich in the 2003–04 Champions League group stage in which the ball dipped viciously at the end of travel that deceived Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn, who was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time.[43]

Juninho lining up to take a free kick with Lyon

Juninho has scored from free-kicks beyond 40 yards on a number of occasions: including against AC Ajaccio in 2006, against Barcelona in 2007, against OGC Nice in 2008, and a strike against Marseille in 2009, this being his final free kick goal for Lyon. Even before Lyon, he displayed his talent at Vasco da Gama, scoring several free kick goals for the club. Juninho has also scored memorable free kick goals for Brazil, the most famous being a curling shot from 30 yards against Greece in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. Brazil would go on to win the match 3–0. Also, Juninho scored two free kicks against Nice in the 2008–09 season as Lyon were losing 2–0, with his second from 48 yards out.[20] Juninho's free-kick style has been adapted by several other players, such as Andrea Pirlo,[44][45] Cristiano Ronaldo,[46] Didier Drogba,[47] and Gareth Bale.[48] The knuckle ball free-kick technique takes a significant amount of skill to replicate and strike accurately. In total, Juninho scored 75 official goals from direct free kicks throughout his professional football career,[6][7][8] which spanned from 1993 to 2013.[49]

Juninho’s Adidas boots in the Lyon museum

Much like King Arthur had Excalibur and William Tell his crossbow, the folk hero Juninho possessed his own special weapon to save the day — his legendary free-kicks. No one hit a free-kick quite like Juninho. No one.

— Carl Anka of the BBC.[5]

A talented right-footed midfielder, beyond his qualities as a set-piece specialist, Juninho was also known for his skill as an offensive playmaker, and for his ability to produce effective passes, which led him to getting assists on many of his teammates' goals throughout his career.[46] He was also gifted with good technical ability and intelligence, as well as excellent vision and passing range, and powerful and accurate striking ability from distance; furthermore, he drew praise in the media for his tenacity, work-rate, composure under pressure,[50] strong character, and leadership, which saw him serve as club captain both at Lyon and Al-Gharafa.[46][51] A versatile player, although he usually played as an attacking midfielder, he was also capable of playing as a winger or as a central midfielder.[45]

Personal life

Juninho is one of the few footballers to publicly speak out against racism in the country, as well as criticize Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right president of Brazil that assumed office on 1 January 2019.[52][53][54][55][56] He is a father and a grandfather.[57]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[58][59]

Club	Season	League			National Cup[lower-alpha 1]		League Cup		Continental		State League		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sport Recife	1993	Série A	2	0	—		—		—		—		—		2	0
	1994	Série A	22	3	—		—		—		—		1[lower-alpha 2]	2	23	5
	1995	Série A	—		2	0	—		—		—		—		2	0
	Total		24	3	2	0	—		—		—		1	2	27	5
Vasco da Gama	1995	Série A	21	3	—		—		—		—		—		21	3
	1996	Série A	15	7	2	0	—		3[lower-alpha 3]	0	21	3	6[lower-alpha 4]	1	47	11
	1997	Série A	18	4	3	1	—		6[lower-alpha 5]	1	21	1	2[lower-alpha 6]	1	50	8
	1998	Série A	18	3	4	0	—		7[lower-alpha 7]	1	5	1	2[lower-alpha 8]	1	36	6
	1999	Série A	20	2	4	0	—		6[lower-alpha 9]	1	12	4	10[lower-alpha 10]	4	52	11
	2000	Série A	28	7	1	0	—		12[lower-alpha 11]	2	8	2	12[lower-alpha 12]	0	61	11
	2001	Série A	1	1	—		—		—		—		—		1	1
	Total		121	27	14	1	—		34	5	67	11	32	7	268	51
Lyon	2001–02	Ligue 1	29	5	2	0	2	0	8[lower-alpha 13]	0	—		—		41	5
	2002–03	Ligue 1	31	13	1	0	1	0	7[lower-alpha 14]	0	—		1[lower-alpha 15]	0	41	13
	2003–04	Ligue 1	32	10	3	2	—		10[lower-alpha 16]	5	—		1[lower-alpha 15]	0	46	17
	2004–05	Ligue 1	32	13	2	1	1	0	9[lower-alpha 16]	2	—		1[lower-alpha 15]	0	45	16
	2005–06	Ligue 1	32	9	4	1	—		8[lower-alpha 16]	4	—		—		44	14
	2006–07	Ligue 1	31	10	2	1	2	0	7[lower-alpha 16]	1	—		—		42	12
	2007–08	Ligue 1	32	8	4	2	2	0	8[lower-alpha 16]	3	—		—		46	13
	2008–09	Ligue 1	29	7	1	0	1	0	7[lower-alpha 16]	3	—		—		38	10
	Total		248	75	19	7	9	0	64	18	—		3	0	343	100
Al-Gharafa	2009–10	Qatar Stars League	21	7	1	0	—		6[lower-alpha 17]	0	—		6[lower-alpha 18]	3	34	10
	2010–11	Qatar Stars League	19	8	3	1	—		5[lower-alpha 17]	0	—		5[lower-alpha 18]	3	32	12
	Total		40	15	4	1	—		11	0	—		11	6	66	22
Vasco da Gama	2011	Série A	21	4	—		—		5[lower-alpha 19]	1	—		—		26	5
	2012	Série A	29	7	—		—		7[lower-alpha 7]	2	13	4	—		49	13
	Total		50	11	—		—		12	3	13	4	—		75	18
New York Red Bulls	2013	MLS	13	0	—		—		—		—		2[lower-alpha 20]	0	15	0
Vasco da Gama	2013	Série A	21	2	1	0	—		—		—		—		22	2
Vasco da Gama total			192	40	15	1	—		46	8	80	15	32	7	365	71
Career total			517	133	40	9	9	0	121	26	80	15	49	15	816	198

1. Includes appearances in Copa do Brasil, Coupe de France and Emir of Qatar Cup
2. Appearance in Copa do Nordeste
3. Appearances in Copa CONMEBOL
4. Appearances in Taça Cidade Maravilhosa
5. Appearances in Supercopa Libertadores
6. Appearances in Torneio Rio – São Paulo
7. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
8. One appearance and one goal in Intercontinental Cup, one appearance in Copa Interamericana
9. Two appearances in Copa Libertadores, four appearances and one goal in Copa Mercosur
10. Nine appearances and four goals in Torneio Rio – São Paulo, one appearance in Seletiva para a Libertadores
11. Appearances in Copa Mercosur
12. Four appearances in FIFA Club World Cup, eight appearances in Torneio Rio – São Paulo
13. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Cup
14. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Cup
15. Appearance in Trophée des Champions
16. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
17. Appearances in AFC Champions League
18. Appearances in Qatari Stars Cup and Qatar Crown Prince Cup
19. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
20. Appearances in U.S. Open Cup

International

Brazil[60][61]
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	4	0
2000	3	0
2001	4	0
2003	4	0
2004	10	0
2005	10	4
2006	5	2
Total	40	6

International goals

Brazil score listed first, score column indicates score after each Juninho goal.[61]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 June 2005	Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany	Greece	3–0	3–0	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
2	9 October 2005	Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia	Bolivia	1–0	1–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	12 November 2005	Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	5–0	8–0	Friendly
4				6–0
5	4 June 2006	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	New Zealand	4–0	4–0
6	22 June 2006	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany	Japan	2–1	4–1	2006 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Club

Sport Recife[50]

• Campeonato Pernambucano: 1994
• Copa do Nordeste: 1994

Vasco da Gama[62]

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1997, 2000
• Campeonato Carioca: 1998
• Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1999
• Copa Libertadores: 1998
• Copa Mercosur: 2000

Lyon[62]

• Ligue 1 (7): 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
• Coupe de France: 2007–08
• Trophée Des Champions (6) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

Al-Gharafa[62]

• Qatar Stars League: 2009–10
• Qatari Stars Cup: 2009
• Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2010, 2011

International

Brazil[62][50]

• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005
• Toulon Tournament: 1995
• Lunar New Year Cup: 2005

Individual

• Revista Placar Bola de Prata: 2000[13]
• UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: February 2005, March 2005, October 2006
• UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year: 2005–06[63]
• UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06[63]
• ESM Team of the Year: 2005–06, 2006–07
• Qatar Football Association Player of the Year: 2010[64]

References

Notes

1. His nickname comes from a combination of the Brazilian diminutive "Juninho", which is commonly applied to any person with the name "Junior", and "Pernambucano", meaning someone born in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco.[2]

Citations

1. "Juninho" (in Portuguese). CR Vasco da Gama. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
2. Dart, James (18 May 2005). "What's in a Brazilian name?". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
3. "Management - Olympique Lyonnais Groupe". investisseur.olympiquelyonnais.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
4. "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.
5. 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.
6. "From Ligue 1 to superstardom: Juninho Pernambucano". Goal.com. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
7. Rodier, Philippe (23 July 2015). "Qui Est le Meilleur Tireur de Coups-Francs de L'histoire?" (in French). Onze Mondial. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
8. Atkins, Christopher (27 March 2013). "Why Juninho Pernambucano Is the Greatest Free-Kick Taker of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
9. 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.
10. "The best free-kick taker EVER: Juninho Pernambucano on how he got so good". Four Four Two. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
11. Lavinas, Thiago (22 February 2006). "Raio-X de Juninho Pernambucano" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
12. Ribeiro, Luiz Gabriel (3 February 2014). "Juninho chora no adeus e diz que já estuda convite da Globo para Copa" (in Portuguese). UOL Esporte.
13. "Bola de Prata Placar 2000" (in Portuguese). Veja. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
14. "'Joo-neen-yoh': New York RB anuncia acerto com Juninho Pernambucano" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
15. "Juninho quer homenagear o Vasco" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 10 October 2007.
16. "Juninho Pernambucano obtém passe livre na Justiça" (in Portuguese). Folha de São Paulo. 12 March 2001. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
17. Cavalieri, Rafael (27 April 2011). "Com 'salário mínimo', Juninho está oficialmente de volta ao Vasco" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
18. "Heptacampeão francês, meia Juninho Pernambucano deixa o Lyon" (in Portuguese). Folha de São Paulo. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
19. "Thiago Silva and Verratti in seventh heaven". Ligue 1. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
20. "Juninho: Still The World's Best Free-Kick Taker". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
21. "Legend Juninho leaving Lyon". Fifa.com. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
22. Anka, Carl (19 March 2019). "Noughty Boys: No one hit a free-kick quite like Juninho Pernambucano". BBC. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
23. "Tearful Juninho leaves Lyon". The Guardian. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
24. "L'OL fait le métier" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. 5 November 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
25. "Juninho bids emotional goodbye to Lyon". Uefa.com. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
26. "Soccer-Brazil's Juninho joins Qatari champions Al Gharafa". Reuters. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
27. "Edmundo marca duas vezes, ouve gritos de 'fica', e Vasco goleia: 9 a 1" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
28. "Red Bulls Sign Brazilian Star Midfielder Juninho". New York Red Bulls. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
29. "Juninho é titular, mas joga apenas 36 minutos em estreia pelo New York RB" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
30. "Juninho Pernambucano ajuda New York a conseguir empate fora de casa" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
31. "Red Bulls Reach Mutual Agreement to Cancel Contract for Midfielder Juninho". New York Red Bulls. 3 July 2013.
32. Bell, Jack (3 July 2013). "Red Bulls and Juninho Part Ways". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
33. Casado, André; Zarko, Raphael (11 July 2013). "O Reizinho voltou: Juninho acerta com Vasco até o fim da temporada" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
34. "Juninho reina na volta ao Maracanã, Vasco derrota o Flu e sobe na tabela" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
35. Leme, Tiago (27 July 2013). "No retorno a São Januário, Juninho decide outra vez, e Vasco 'retrô' vence o Criciúma" (in Portuguese). ESPN Brasil. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
36. "Comentarista da Globo, Juninho Pernambucano "corneta" prêmio da ESPN" (in Portuguese). UOL Esporte. 8 December 2014.
37. "Juninho Pernambucano deixa a Globo após crítica a jornalistas" (in Portuguese). Veja. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
38. Tozzi, Daniel; Medice, João Henrique (1 July 2006). "Decepcionado, Juninho se despede da seleção brasileira" (in Portuguese). UOL Esporte. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
39. "Juninho quits international scene". BBC Sport. 2 July 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
40. White, Adam; Devin, Eric (20 May 2019). "Lyon are taking a big gamble on Juninho and Sylvinho". theguardian.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
41. "Who is the free-kick master?". FIFA.com. 30 October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 April 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
42. Lawrence, Amy (26 February 2006). "Juninho still knuckling down and shining brightly in Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
43. Doyle, Paul (31 October 2014). "Golden goal: Juninho Pernambucano for Lyon v Bayern Munich (2003)". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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External links

• Juninho Pernambucano at L'Équipe Football (in French)
• Juninho Pernambucano – French league stats at LFP (also available in French)
• Juninho Pernambucano at CR Vasco da Gama
• Juninho Pernambucano at Major League Soccer