Juninho Pernambucano
Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior (born 30 January 1975), commonly known as Juninho Pernambucano or simply Juninho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who was most recently the sporting director of French club Lyon. A dead-ball specialist noted for his bending free kicks, in particular the knuckleball technique which he developed, 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.
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Juninho in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| 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) | ||||||||||||||||
| 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
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
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. 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.