José Júnior

Júnior

Personal information
Full name	José Luiz Guimarães Sanabio Júnior
Date of birth	(1976-06-15) June 15, 1976
Place of birth	Fortaleza, Brazil
Height
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	ABC Futebol Clube
Youth career
1996-1998	Ferroviário
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998	Fortaleza
1999	Unión Española
1999–2000	Córdoba	5	(0)
2000–2001	Beveren	29	(2)
2001–2002	AC Ajaccio	9	(2)
2002	Treze
2002–2003	Walsall	36	(15)
2003–2005	Derby County	30	(4)
2004–2005	→ Rotherham United (loan)	12	(2)
2005	Watford	0	(0)
2005–2006	OB	16	(9)
2006–2007	Malmö FF	38	(17)
2008–2009	F.C. Copenhagen	17	(6)
2009	→ FC Nordsjælland (loan)	11	(5)
2009	→ Randers FC (loan)	10	(5)
2010	Vitória	31	(8)
2011	Ceará	4	(1)
2011–2012	Bahia	47	(9)
2013	ABC	2	(0)
2014	Tiradentes	6	(2)
2014-2015	Juazeirense	2	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 March 2015

José Luiz Guimarães Sanabio Júnior, or simply Júnior, (born June 15, 1976 in Fortaleza) is a Brazilian football striker playing for Juazeirense of the Brazilian Bahia State Championship.

Biography

Júnior has represented many clubs, including Derby County and Rotherham United, and has, to date, played in eight different countries. He arrived in Europe and at English First Division side Walsall from Brazilian side Treze at the beginning of the 2002/03 season. Júnior and Jorge Leitão formed a Portuguese speaking front-line that was envied by most clubs in the league. Between them they scored 29 goals during the course of the season, Júnior scoring 16 of them, for a side which many believe was the most talented Walsall team since the club's golden era under Bill Moore in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Despite the best efforts of Walsall manager Colin Lee to sign him permanently, Júnior moved on to Derby County in August 2003; in his final game at Bescot Stadium, he had demonstrated his skills perfectly by scoring a hat-trick against the Rams. Júnior got off to a good start at Derby, forming a talented partnership up front with Charlton loanee Mathias Svensson, but Svensson was recalled by Charlton. Júnior then injured a cruciate knee ligament in September, and, when he had recovered, he did not get much of a chance to play. He moved to Rotherham United (on loan) and to Watford, who sold him due to a problem with legal paperwork and his apparent lack of correct personal permits.

Júnior then moved to Denmark in October 2005, to Odense Boldklub. He scored 9 goals in 16 matches before being sold to Swedish club Malmö FF on July 1, 2006. He scored 17 goals in 38 appearances for Malmö FF, increasing his reputation in Sweden. On 16 April 2007, he famously scored Malmö's 3000th goal in Swedish league history, when he scored the opening goal against GAIS after one minute.

F.C. Copenhagen signed José Junior on 31 January 2008. He spent much of his time there on the bench because of the stiff competition from Morten Nordstrand and fellow Brazilians Aílton Almeida and César Santin. He signed with FC Nordsjælland on loan in February 2009.

In May 2009, José Junior threatened not to show up for the game between FC Nordsjælland and F.C. Copenhagen, because he refused to be a substitute. FC Nordsjælland manager Morten Wieghorst subsequently announced that José Junior had played his last game for the club.

On 23 November 2009, Júnior agreed with FC Copenhagen to suspend his contract. It was then supposed that Júnior should sign with Randers FC, whom he was previously loaned to, but his contract was cancelled as he had not attended the latest training sessions. He then returned to his homeland Brazil and signed for Vitória in February 2010.

Júnior helped Vitória reach the final of the 2010 Copa do Brasil, scoring 7 goals in the competition, including one against Santos in the final's second leg.

External links

• José Júnior career statistics at Soccerbase
• (Danish) Official Danish league stats
• (Danish) F.C. Copenhagen profile
• (Portuguese) CBF BID
• (English) Walsall Brazilians
• (English) Júnior interview