Juninho

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The number of caps and number of goals mentioned below are as of May 15th 2006, when the Brazilian roster was announced.
The number after Caps represent the number of times the player was rostered, and, between parenthesis, the number of times he actually played.

Juninho
Full name: Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior
Date of birth: January 30th 1975
Place of birth: Recife, Pernambuco
Position: midfield
Height: 1.79 m
Clubs and teams: Sport, Vasco and Lyon (France)
Caps: 53 (38)
Goals scored: 4
World Cups: none
Titles won: Confederations Cup (2005)

Juninho is a way to call the Juniors in Brazil; as it is a common name, Juninho is called Pernambucano in Brazil, a reference to his State, Pernambuco.
By far, the best defensive midfielder in Brazil. Strong as Emerson, quick as Zé Roberto. Juninho also is an excellent long distance kicker.

Juninho started his career in Sport, in his hometown Recife; to date, he is still one of the greatest Sport's idols.
In 1995, Juninho moved to Vasco da Gama, in Rio de Janeiro, where he stayed five years and won several titles, including two Brazilian championships and one Libertadores da América.
In 2000, he started talkings with Olympique Lyonnais, for an eventual transfer. However, in a situation similar to Ronaldinho's with Grêmio, Vasco da Gama contested the legality of the transferring. Only in 2001 were the divergences settled and Juninho could move to Lyon.
In Lyon, Juninho became an idol, and it is easy to see why. Before Juninho (and other Brazilians Edmilson, Cris and Fred) arrived, the Olympique had never won the French League. After Juninho, the team won five Championships in a row (from 2002 to 2006).


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