At the request of a friend, let's talk about Juninho, the former midfield maestro who wore Brazil's No.10 shirt and was the core of the Samba Army's organization:
Osvaldo Gilordo Júnior was born on February 22, 1973 in São Paulo, Brazil, to a middle-class family. Although he never had to worry about eating and drinking when he was a child, his physical development was not good. It's just that he is not tall enough, and he is slightly thin, and he is rejected by many professional football clubs.
Fortunately, Juninho's parents were unusually enlightened. Not only did they support their children on their football journey, but they also relocated to Itu for the sake of the child's family, because the local club Ituano was willing to accept Juninho. Juninho, on the other hand, was also very competitive and quickly stood out from his peers and was selected for Ituano's first team and appeared on the stage of the professional league.
Although Juninho's club Ituano is not a strong team, and the strength of his teammates around him is limited, he still played an eye-catching performance. Especially against the old club São Paulo, the big Juninho scored the goal himself and assisted his teammates to help Ituano draw against the fierce rival, so he impressed Sao Paulo, and was soon recruited by the old club.
Santana, the coach of São Paulo at the time, was very impressed with Juninho's organizational talent. When Rai left for the Europa League, Juninho became the heart of Sao Paulo's midfield. At this time, Sao Paulo, with Brazilian internationals such as Cafu, was not only quite competitive in South American football, but also able to break wrists even if it competed with the top European clubs at the time. Big Juninho is the main player in such a strong team, and he can naturally get the attention of the Brazilian national team.
By 1995, Juninho simply became Brazil's No. 10 and appeared on the stage of the Copa America as the core of the Samba Army's midfield. Also in the 1995 Umbro Cup, Juninho led the Samba Army to a fierce battle with England, first breaking the door of the Three Lions with a free-kick, and then providing a wonderful assist for Ronaldo, who was still a rookie at the time, to conquer the crowd in one fell swoop.
Although the Grand Juninho was only 22 years old at this time. But between his gestures, he showed the style of a midfield master. In addition to his unusually solid ball control skills, his ability to control the tempo is even more commendable. Among the Brazilian players of the same period, there is no longer a player with better organizational skills than him. Even if it's as strong as Rivaldo, it's just that his personal attack power is stronger than that of Juninho. In terms of the ability to organize the attack and control the tempo, Rivaldo is indeed inferior to Juninho.
All in all, Juninho was the most organized player in Brazilian football at that time, and he became Brazil's No. 10 by virtue of his ability. And this kind of player with real talent and learning is destined to get the attention of European clubs. For example, Inter Milan, a traditional Serie A giant, has extended an olive branch to the midfield maestro.
However, Juninho did not choose a traditional giant like Inter Milan, but went to the Premier League and became a member of Middlesbrough. The reason why he made this choice was because Middlesbrough at that time did show great ambition to compete in the world.
However, Juninho seems to have overlooked the fact that there are too many clubs that have historically shown great ambition. But whether you can turn ambition into competitiveness is another matter.
Unfortunately, Middlesbrough's ambitions at the time were not so reliable. Although the club has brought in the likes of Juninho and Ravanelli, their recruitment has not matched their ambitions. The most obvious evidence is that their lineup is extremely thin and cannot support multi-front operations at all.
As a result of a thin but strong squad, Middlesbrough reached the final of both the FA Cup and the League Cup in 1996-97, but their Premier League record was a mess and they had to swallow the bitter pill of relegation. This team was on the verge of relegation, and even postponed the game because it could not get together a full lineup, and was directly deducted three points.
Anyone knows that Middlesbrough's relegation was a classic mistake and not a problem with Juninho. The midfielder's ability to lead such a thin squad to the FA Cup and League Cup finals has proven his quality. Therefore, at that time, almost no one blamed Juninho, but the voice of appreciation was the majority.
But for the great Juninho, these appreciative voices could not offset the sense of crisis in his heart. Because the timing of Middlesbrough's relegation happened to be in the summer of 1997. The 1998 World Cup in France is just one season away. If Juninho chooses to stay and play in the second division for a season, it will most likely affect his participation in the 1998 World Cup in France.
After weighing the pros and cons, Juninho chose to leave the team in extreme reluctance. As for his choice of new club, it is Atletico Madrid, an old club in La Liga. Atletico Madrid coach Antic created a super combination of Vieri and Juninho, and once killed all sides in La Liga.
If this trend continues, then in the 1998 World Cup in France, Juninho was still the core of the Brazilian team's midfield. But just when the situation was good, bad luck got around Juninho. The Brazilian midfielder broke his leg when he was kicked by Salgado in a clash against Celta. As a direct result, he missed the 1998 World Cup in France.
It's bad enough to be unlucky enough to come across this kind of thing. Unexpectedly, more unfortunate things are yet to come. His club, Atletico Madrid, was in turmoil, sacking Antich, bringing in Saki, and bringing in Antich. In the summer of 1999, Antich, who was very impressed with Juninho, was removed from class again and replaced by Ranieri.
Ranieri, as an Italian manager, does not appreciate the type of midfielder of Juninho. The first thing he did when he took office was to tell Juninho that he had no future under him. When the coach said it to this extent, Juninho had no choice but to leave the team in disgrace. However, he did not directly end his contract with Atletico Madrid, but went to other clubs as a loan player.
Why loan, not transfer? The reason is simple, once Ranieri leaves Atletico Madrid, then the return of Juninho to Atletico Madrid is not without the possibility of returning to the position. It's a pity that Ranieri made a mess of Atletico Madrid. Under his leadership, this veteran club, which has a number of powerful players, was unfortunately relegated......
After Atletico Madrid's relegation, Juninho's situation became extremely embarrassing. Because for a relegated club, Juninho's annual salary is too high. Moreover, as a Brazilian international, Juninho may not want to play in the second division. Against this backdrop, Atletico naturally wanted to sell Juninho. But other clubs know Atletico's predicament, who wants to pay a high price?
This directly led to the fact that Juninho was reduced to Atletico Madrid. For Atletico Madrid, who was in La B at the time, Juninho could only be regarded as a chicken rib that was "tasteless and a pity to discard". Keep it for yourself, it feels too expensive. I want to sell it, but I can't sell it for a high price. Just terminate the contract, that's a big loss.
As a result, in the two seasons when Atletico Madrid was relegated to La Liga, the old La Liga club could only use the gentle but helpless plan of loan to loan Juninho to other clubs to play. It wasn't until Atletico Madrid was promoted to La Liga that Juninho was handed over to Middlesbrough for a transfer fee of close to 7 million euros.
For five seasons, from the summer of 1997 to the summer of 2002, Atletico had the ownership of Juninho. However, Atletico Madrid's season with Juninho has only been two seasons. Most of the time, Juninho can only be regarded as Atletico Madrid's chicken ribs, and the situation is extremely embarrassing......
But can you blame Juninho for this kind of thing? He was first cut off, then chased by Claudio Ranieri and finally relegated to Atletico Madrid. Obviously, these things are beyond the control of the players themselves. It can only be said that Juninho's luck during his time at Atletico Madrid was really bad, because luck was reduced to Atletico Madrid's chicken ribs, nothing more.
As for Juninho, who completely broke up with Atletico Madrid, his age has also risen, and with the impact of Salgado's kick, he can no longer find his peak competitive state, so don't be too sad......