Juninho Pernambucano

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior (born January 30, 1975 in Recife), commonly known as Juninho or Juninho Pernambucano,[1] is a Brazilian football player, who plays as a central midfielder for French club Olympique Lyonnais. He scored seven goals in 44 games for the Brazilian national team, before retiring from international football after the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Juninho is described as one of the best all-round midfielders in the world today and is by far the best free-kick taker in the world today[citation needed]. He is known to be capable of doing just about anything at all[citation needed] with equal amount of skill and precision such as his short and deep ball passing games, and also brings incredible mentality to the field with brilliant vision and tactical awareness. He is considered to be one of the most skilled free-kick takers in the world, with an uncanny strike rate of scoring from them

Biography
Born in Recife, Juninho started his senior career with SC Recife in 1993. Juninho learned to kick free-kicks with Mauro Galvão, a defender for Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama in the early 1990s, who was an instructor for the team during the time Juninho played there.

He moved to CR Vasco da Gama in 1995, and played 110 games for the club, scoring 24 goals. He won several trophies with Vasco, including the Brazilian Championship in 1997 and 2000, the Copa Libertadores in 1998 and 2000, as well as the 2000 Brazilian Silver Ball award, as one of the best Brazilian midfielders of the season. He made his debut for the Brazilian national team in 1999. On September 7, 1999, Juninho became the first football player to play a top-level match in two different countries in the same day. He represented his country in the second half of the friendly 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 still arrived in Uruguay on time to feature in the second half of the Copa Mercosur match between Vasco and National.

In 2001, Juninho moved abroad to play for French club Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon). Before his arrival at Lyon, the club had never won the French Ligue 1 championship. In his first year at the club, the championship was secured, and it was subsequently won six seasons in a row. At Lyon, Juninho made himself especially noted for his accurate, powerful and varied set pieces. In addition, he is an effective passer, having provided many assists, and his leadership abilities have prompted Lyon manager Gérard Houllier to name him team captain.

Juninho represented Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Following Brazil's exit in the quarter-finals of the tournament, he announced his international retirement, as to make way for younger talents coming through the ranks in Brazil to build for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Free kicks

Juninho taking a free-kick.Juninho has become renowned for this extraordinary expertise in set-piece situations, and is one of the best free-kick takers in the world. A survey by the French sports daily L'Equipe from December 2006, revealed that 45% of Lyon's goals (at the time one of the best attacking teams in Europe) resulted - either directly or indirectly - from a set-piece delivered by Juninho. His set-piece precision is due to the fact he used to play futsal, where the goals are much smaller and therefore precision is required.[citation needed]

Juninho's free kicks have comparatively less ball rotation, but high air-speed. This makes use of any air drafts or wind which causes changing drag patterns on the seams of the ball. Thus the ball may move unpredictably or 'wobble' in the air. This has lead many to avoid forming a wall between Juninho and the goal on set-pieces, thus giving the goalkeeper a better view of the ball

Free kick goals
A list of direct free-kicks, scored by Juninho whilst at Lyon:




# Match Competition Season Date Minute
1 OL - FC Sochaux Ligue 1 2001-2002 20 October 2001 82nd
2 OL - CS Sedan Ligue 1 2002-2003 10 August 2002 44th
3 OL - RC Lens Ligue 1 2002-2003 10 September 2002 32nd
4 OL - AJ Auxerre Ligue 1 2002-2003 19 October 2002 37th
5 OL - AJ Auxerre Ligue 1 2002-2003 19 October 2002 75th
6 OL - Stade Rennais Ligue 1 2002-2003 22 February 2003 16th
7 OL - RC Lens Ligue 1 2003-2004 27 September 2003 57nd
8 OL - OGC Nice Ligue 1 2003-2004 1 November 2003 24th
9 Bayern Munich - OL UEFA Champions League 2003-2004 5 November 2003 6th
10 FC Metz - OL Ligue 1 2003-2004 8 May 2004 22nd
11 OL - SC Bastia Ligue 1 2003-2004 12 May 2004 36th
12 AS Saint-Étienne - OL Ligue 1 2004-2005 3 October 2004 34th
13 AC Ajaccio - OL Ligue 1 2004-2005 4 December 2004 87th
14 Viry-Châtillon - OL French Cup 2004-2005 8 January 2005 27th
15 OL - FC Metz Ligue 1 2004-2005 15 January 2005 84th
16 OL - Toulouse FC Ligue 1 2004-2005 5 February 2005 2nd
17 OL - Toulouse FC Ligue 1 2004-2005 5 February 2005 51st
18 Werder Bremen - OL UEFA Champions League 2004-2005 23 February 2005 80th
19 OL - FC Istres Ligue 1 2004-2005 12 March 2005 20nd
20 OL - Real Madrid UEFA Champions League 2005-2006 13 September 2005 25th
21 OL - AC Ajaccio Ligue 1 2005-2006 16 October 2005 49th
22 OL - Olympiacos CFP UEFA Champions League 2005-2006 19 October 2005 4th
23 Olympiacos CFP - OL UEFA Champions League 2005-2006 1 November 2005 41st
24 OL - FC Nantes Ligue 1 2005-2006 17 February 2006 9th
25 PSV Eindhoven - OL UEFA Champions League 2005-2006 21 February 2006 64th
26 AC Ajaccio - OL Ligue 1 2005-2006 4 March 2006 61st
27 OL - Le Mans Ligue 1 2005-2006 13 May 2006 42nd
28 OL - ESTAC Ligue 1 2006-2007 9 September 2006 87th
29 Dynamo Kiev - OL UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 17 October 2006 31st
30 OM - OL Ligue 1 2006-2007 22 October 2006 20th
31 RC Lens - OL Ligue 1 2006-2007 16 December 2006 22nd
32 Aviron Bayonnais Football Club - OL French Cup 2006-2007 7 January 2007 75th

Honours
SC Recife
Pernambucano State championship: 1994

Olympique Lyonnais
French Ligue 1 championship: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007
Trophée Des Champions: 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005

CR Vasco da Gama
Brazilian championship: 1997 and 2000
Rio de Janeiro State championship: 1998
Copa Libertadores: 1998
Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1999
Mercosur Cup: 2

Brazil national team
2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

Personal information
Full name Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior
Date of birth January 30, 1975 (1975-01-30) (age 32)
Place of birth Recife, Brazil
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Olympique Lyonnais (Captain)
Number 8
Youth clubs
Náutico and Sport Recife
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1993-1994
1995-2001
2001-present Sport Recife
Vasco da Gama
Olympique Lyonnais 25 (
110 (44)
180 (68)
National team2
1999-2006 Brazil 44 (7)