Career Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior (Juninho Paulista)

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior, more known as "Juninho", nicknamed Juninho Paulista, (born February 22, 1973 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian footballer, currently playing for Ituano.

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior has scored five goals in 50 games for the Brazilian national team, winning the 2002 FIFA World Cup championship and bronze medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics. During his career, Juninho has played for Brazilian clubs São Paulo FC, Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, CR Flamengo, as well as English club Middlesbrough F.C., Spanish club Atlético Madrid, Celtic F.C. in Scotland and Sydney FC in Australia.

Ituano FC

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior began his senior career with Ituano FC, from city of Itu, state of São Paulo in 1990. In 1993 playing for Ituano FC against São Paulo FC, Juninho scored and was awarded the player of the match, helping Ituano FC beat São Paulo in a Paulista Champoonship match, fact which got attention of the São Paulo FC's head coach Telê Santana, who requested its team to buy the young talent. After being awarded the best rookie of the 1993's Paulista Championship playing by Ituano FC.

São Paulo FC

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior got transferred to the famous São Paulo FC, he won a number of trophies with the club, including the 1993 South American Copa Libertadores championship, the 1993 Intercontinental Cup against Italian team AC Milan, and the 1994 Copa CONMEBOL. He made his debut for the Brazilian national team ("Seleção") in February 1995, before moving abroad to play in Europe.

Middlesbrough

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior signed for English club Middlesbrough F.C. for £4.75m in October 1995, just months after they had been promoted to the top-flight FA Premier League championship. Then aged 22, Juninho had been tracked by numerous European top clubs, and it was a major surprise when he signed for "the Teessiders". Juninho became known as TLF (The Little Fella) by Boro fans, and he is one of the greatest players to have played for Middlesbrough in the modern era. The nickname alludes to his height: only 1.65 metres. During his time with Middlesbrough, Juninho lived in Levendale and Ingleby Barwick with his parents. He was known for playing football with school children on the streets.

For Middlesbrough, Juninho was extremely effective in the attacking midfielder position, where his skills helped the club reach the final of both domestic cup finals in 1997; the FA Cup and League Cup finals, which were both lost. At the end of the 1997 season, a three-point deduction in the FA Premier League condemned Middlesbrough to relegation to the secondary Division One. He came runners up to Gianfranco Zola for the FWA Player of the Year award. For some time there had been speculation that Juninho would leave the club, and the relegation put paid to any realistic hope that "Boro" might have had of holding onto Juninho. Following Middlesbrough's 1-1 draw at Leeds United which confirmed their relegation, Juninho was reduced to tears.

Atletico Madrid

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior was sold to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish top-flight La Liga championship for £12m, and started out well for the team. However, his time at Atletico was hampered massively by injuries, and he never quite achieved the heights that were expected of him. He was loaned back to Middlesbrough during the 1999-2000 season, and scored four goals in 24 games for the club, before returning to Atletico Madrid. Upon his return, Atletico had been relegated to the secondary Segunda División. Juninho was then loaned out to Brazilian team Vasco da Gama. Here he played alongside namesake Juninho Pernambucano, and won the 2000 domestic Campeonato Brasileiro Série A championship and the international Copa Mercosur trophy. He also had a brief loan spell with Flamengo.

Middlesbrough

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior began his third spell with Middlesbrough in the summer of 2002, when he permanently left Atletico Madrid for £6m. He spent two years back at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium, and helped the club win the 2004 English league cup. In a post match interview live on TV Juninho said that winning the league cup with Middesbrough meant more to him than winning the 2002 FIFA world cup with Brazil. In December 2007 he was voted by Boro fans in a PFA fan's poll as Middlesbrough's greatest ever player. Juninho is still seen as a god on Teesside by many Middlesbrough fans - soon after he joined Middlesbrough in 1995 Boro fans would put out both their arms and bow forwards in worship during matches, this continued even through to his third spell at the club. Juninho said he would love a fourth spell at the Boro to end his career.

Celtic

At the end of the 2004 season, he moved to Scottish club Celtic on a free transfer. Juninho made his debut in an Old Firm derby against Celtic's bitter rivals Rangers FC, as Celtic won 1-0. Juninho had an awful time at Celtic, struggling to get in the team and claimed Celtic manager Martin O'Neill never gave him a chance. He scored just once in his spell at Celtic, in a 3-0 win over Hearts in October 2004.

Brazilian return

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior returned to Brazil in 2005, to play for Palmeiras. He moved back to his former team Flamengo in 2007 for the Carioca Championship and the Copa Libertadores, but never won the trust of coach Ney Franco, playing only about half of the games. In May after a major discussion with the coach during Flamengo's loss to Defensor-URU, he was fired. Juninho was sacked by club Flamengo after arguing with and insulting coach Ney Franco after refusing to be substituted at half-time during the disappointing 3-0 quarter-final defeat at Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting in the Copa Libertadores.

Sydney FC

Although clubs in Brazil, Qatar and Hong Kong were reportedly keen in signing Juninho he opted to join Sydney FC in the Australian A-League as the club's marquee player signing on 3 August 2007, stating that the interest the club showed towards him made a strong contribution to the decision.

Due to a shoulder injury early in the season, Juninho spent large periods on the bench and his onfield performances were hampered by chronic pain, aggressive play and secondary injuries, requiring painkillers and cortisone before each match. Despite this he managed several strong showings including a masterful performance in Sydney's 5-3 victory over LA Galaxy.

Sydney's strong signings, which used a large amount of their salary cap, made a new contract look very unlikely. A number of A-League clubs including, Perth Glory, Gold Coast United, and Adelaide United have expressed their desire to sign Juninho, there has also been reported interest from Middle East and European clubs. Juninho was a standout performer, leader the club's attack by setting up many goals. However, he failed to score a goal for the club.

Due to several factors, the signing of a new Marquee player and many other highly valued players, including Australian international John Aloisi, Sydney FC were unable to offer Juninho a new contract. He was released in the off-season in April 2008. It was then when Juninho announced his retirement from professional football and hopes to carry on coaching in skill schools in Brazil.