Juninho Pernambucano

A Brazilian footballer Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Jr., aka Juninho Pernambucano, plays as a midfielder for New York Red Bulls. He was born on 30 January 1975 in Recife. He’s known as arguably the best free kick specialist. He adopted a nickname ‘Pernambucano’ (state Pernambuco) to be distinguished from his namesake Juninho Paulista.

Juninho started his career at Sport, but the fame came to him when he was performing for Vasco da Gama. He made 295 appearances and amassed 60 goals during the period from 1995 to 2001.

In 2001, the midfielder signed for Lyon and his career skyhooted from this moment. During the spell the team gained the Ligue 1 title seven times. In total, Pernambucano featured in 350 matches and scored 100 goals.

In 2009, the footballer signed for Al-Gharafa. He played for the Qatari club during two years before coming back to Brazil to join Vasco da Gama.

In 2013 he signed a new deal with an MLS club New York Red Bulls and joined the likes of Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill and Péguy Luyindula.

Juninho made 40 appearances and netted 6 goals for the Brazil national team from 1996 to 2006.