José Júnior

José Júnior
José Luiz Guimarães Sanabio Júnior, nicknamed Júnior Pipoca (Junior Popcorn), Diabo Loiro (Blonde Devil), or simply Júnior, (born 15 June 1976) is a Brazilian football striker playing for Jacuipense of the Brazilian Bahia State Championship.
He represented many clubs, including Derby County and Rotherham United, and has played in eight countries.
Biography
Born in Fortaleza, Brazil, Júnior 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 1 July 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. Despite scoring 8 goals for his club in 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Vitória were relegated, and Júnior signed for Ceará for the 2011 season.
In June 2011, Júnior mutually agreed with Ceará to terminate his contract, foregoing the payment due, and signed for Bahia, where he remained until the end of the 2012 season.
In February 2013, Júnior signed with ABC, but an argument with successive coaches at the club led to him leaving in the summer.
After spending the second half of 2013 without a club, Júnior signed a three-month contract with Fortaleza side Tiradentes, at the end of which he signed a short-term contract with Bahia state side Juazeirense. He again signed a short-term contract with Juazeirense in March 2015, and scored the winning goal against Colo Colo that guaranteed the club a third-place finish in 2015 Campeonato Baiano, and access to 2016 Copa do Nordeste.
On 20 February 2016, Júnior signed for Bahia state side Jacuipense for the remaining duration of the 2016 Campeonato Baiano.
References
External links
Official Danish league stats
F.C. Copenhagen profile
CBF BID
Walsall Brazilians
Júnior interview
1976 births
Living people
Men's association football forwards
Brazilian men's footballers
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Fortaleza Esporte Clube players
Córdoba CF players
K.S.K. Beveren players
AC Ajaccio players
Treze Futebol Clube players
Walsall F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Odense Boldklub players
Malmö FF players
F.C. Copenhagen players
FC Nordsjælland players
Randers FC players
Unión Española footballers
Esporte Clube Vitória players
Ceará Sporting Club players
Esporte Clube Bahia players
ABC Futebol Clube players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Ligue 2 players
Belgian Pro League players
Danish Superliga players
Allsvenskan players
Primera B de Chile players
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Chile
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Expatriate men's footballers in Chile
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
Footballers from Fortaleza