 Júnior in 1983 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leovegildo Lins da Gama Júnior | ||
| Date of birth | (1954-06-29)29 June 1954 (age 71) | ||
| Place of birth | João Pessoa, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left back,midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1973–1974 | Flamengo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1974–1984 | Flamengo | 192 | (7) |
| 1984–1987 | Torino | 86 | (12) |
| 1987–1989 | Pescara | 62 | (6) |
| 1989–1993 | Flamengo | 70 | (10) |
| Total | 410 | (35) | |
| International career | |||
| 1979–1992 | Brazil | 74 | (6) |
| 1993–2001 | Brazil (beach) | ? | (201) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1993–1994 | Flamengo | ||
| 1997 | Flamengo | ||
| 2003 | Corinthians | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Leovegildo Lins da Gama Júnior (born 29 June 1954), also known asLéo Júnior or simplyJúnior, is a Brazilian footballpundit and retiredfootballer who played as aleft back ormidfielder.[1]
He was nicknamed "Capacete" ("helmet", in Portuguese) because of his afro hairstyle.
He was named byPelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.[2] Junior now works as a television pundit forRede Globo.
Léo Júnior played forFlamengo during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, winning fourBrazilian Championships (1980, 1982, 1983, 1992), the1981 Copa Libertadores and1981 Intercontinental Cup.[1] With 857 matches, he is the player with most appearances for Flamengo.[3]
On 12 June 1984 he was bought byTorino, for a fee of two million dollars. Léo Júnior asked and obtained a guarantee to play as a midfielder rather than a full-back, because he considered the former role less stressful, so to extend the life of his career. Although he was now thirty years old, after some initial difficulties, he succeeded in integrating in the formation coached byLuigi Radice, becoming the leader of the midfield. During his first year in Italy he was the victim of two incidents of racism: inMilan he was repeatedly insulted and spat upon as he left the stadium with his mother and father and inTurin, on the occasion of thederby,Juventus fans exhibited offensive banners on the colour of his skin. The Torino supporters responded promptly with another banner: "Better negro than a Juventus fan". At the end of the season, finished second behindVerona, he was awardedSerie A's player of the year.[4]
During his time with "Toro" he was also given the affectionate nickname of "papà Júnior", due to his elder appearance. He remained in Turin until 1987, when he had a fallout with the manager Radice. The coach believed the performance of the Brazilian lower than that of the first season, while Léo Júnior was particularly annoyed for being substituted during aUEFA Cup tie againstHNK Hajduk Split, which culminated with the elimination of the team.
He also played for Italian clubPescara between 1987 and 1989.[1]
In early June 1991 he returned to Torino for a short spell on loan from Flamengo to bolster their team while participating in theMitropa Cup. With Júnior in fine form, Torino won the tournament.
Léo Júnior competed in themen's tournament at the1976 Summer Olympics.[5]
He went on to record 74 appearances for theBrazil national team, between May 1979 and December 1992, scoring six goals.[6] He appeared in both the1982[7] and1986 World Cup.[8]
He also took part in many Beach Soccer World Championships as part of theBrazil national team, winning awards for top scorer and best player.[1] Overall Léo Júnior played for Brazil beach soccer between 1993 and 2001, notching up 201 goals during those years,[9] including 71 goals at theWorld Championships.[10] He stopped playing to pursue the development of the sport.[11] In 2019, he was crowned "Best Legend" at the 2019Beach Soccer Stars awards[12] and the magazineFrance Football placed Júnior fifth in an article named "10 Legends of Beach Soccer".[13]
Léo Júnior coachedFlamengo from 1993 to 1994, and in 1997. He coachedCorinthians from 1 October 2003 to 10 October 2003.
Léo Júnior was known for his technique and teamwork as well as his versatility, playing at left back and on theleft side of midfield for Brazil due to his two footedness whilst often playing as acentral midfielder ordeep-lying playmaker at club level; he was also capable of playing on the right flank, and initially started out as an attacking right-back. He was as capable of "orchestrating attacking moves as fulfilling his defensive remit."[14] In addition to hisplaymaking skills, he was highly regarded for his elegance, leadership, and tactical intelligence, as well as his ability to get forward, provide precisecrosses for his teammates, or strike on goal. Moreover, he was also an accuratefree kick andpenalty taker.[15][16][17][18]
Junior is married. His wife is Eloisa. They have three children: Viviana, Carolina, and son Rodrigo.[19] The eldest, Rodrigo, was a professional footballer, winning the Rio de Janeiro Youth Championship in 2002.[20] and then playing for Bangu and América. Viviana became a choreographer and dance teacher, and Carolina works as a stylist for the Globo TV channel.[21]
In 1982, Junior recorded an album of songs called "Voa Canarinho", which went double platinum and sold 726,000 copies.[19][21]
As a young man, Junior passed the university entrance exam in veterinary science, but chose football. Later, already a famous football player, he entered the Candido Mendes College, but studied there only until the second year.[21]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Flamengo | 1975 | Série A | 27 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1976 | 21 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 1977 | 18 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1978 | 25 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 1979 | 7 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 1980 | 19 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 1981 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1982 | 23 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1983 | 26 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1984 | 20 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | 174 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Torino | 1984–85 | Serie A | 26 | 7 | ||||||||
| 1985–86 | 30 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 1986–87 | 30 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Total | 86 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Pescara | 1987–88 | Serie A | 28 | 3 | ||||||||
| 1988–89 | 34 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Total | 62 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Flamengo | 1988 | Série A | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1989 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1991 | 17 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1992 | 25 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||||||||
| Total | 70 | 10 | 15 | 2 | ||||||||
| Career total | 410 | 35 | ||||||||||
Flamengo
Torino
Brazil
Individual
Brazil
Individual
Awards | |
|---|---|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
