Juninho Pernambucano

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Jr. (born 30 January 1975), commonly known as Juninho (Little Jr.) or Juninho Pernambucano, is a retired Brazilian footballer. Renowned for his bending free kicks, he is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest free-kick specialist of all time.

He led Olympique Lyonnais to seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles before leaving the club in 2009, having scored 100 goals in 350 official games for Lyon.

From his international debut in 1999, Juninho played 40 games for the Brazilian national team and scored six goals. He played at the 2001 Copa América and retired from international football after the 2006 World Cup.

Since 2013 Juninho has been a football commentator with Brazilian sports network Rede Globo.

Club career

Early career: Sport Recife and Vasco da Gama

Born in Recife, Juninho started his career at Sport Recife and quickly established himself as a rising star in Brazilian football. After winning two regional titles with Sport, he moved to Vasco da Gama in 1995, and won several trophies with the club, including the Brazilian Championship in 1997 and 2000, the Copa Libertadores in 1998, the Copa Mercosur in 2000, as well as the 2000 Brazilian Silver Ball award as one of the best Brazilian midfielders of the season. At that time, he was playing with Romário, Edmundo, and Juninho Paulista.