Júnior Moraes

Biography

Júnior Moraes was born in a family of sportsmen. His father was a very good football player. He played for Flamengo and Santos. His brother Bruno also played for Santos and Porto and still in activity, while his sister ended her football career because of an injury. His mother was a Paulista tennis champion.

He started to play football in São Paulo when he was 4 years old, being in the same group with Robinho.

Santos

Júnior Moraes being promoted on the senior team by the coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo at the age of 18. The player made his debut in the Campeonato Brasileiro for the first team of Santos, in the same squad with Robinho, Diego, Marcelo or Zago, playing 15 matches in the season 2006/2007 and scoring 1 goal in the 3–0 win against Botafogo. Then he scored again in the first round of Campeonato Brasileiro in the season 2007/2008 in the 3–1 win against Flamengo, but this match was his last appearance for Santos in the national championship, because he was loaned then by Ponte Preta.

He scored on goal in the 2007 final between Santos and São Caetano of the Campeonato Paulista, giving to his side the title of that year.

Gloria Bistriţa

Júnior Moraes made an impressive debut in Liga I for Gloria Bistriţa, scoring 10 goals in 17 appearances. His good run continued in the first part of the 2010/2011 season and he accumulated a total of 18 goals scored in 32 matches in the Romanian championship, but in two different seasons.

Metalurh Donetsk

On February 12, 2011 Gloria Bistriţa announced that Júnior Moraes was sold to Ukrainian Premier League squad Metalurh Donetsk, for a reported fee of 1.25M €. However, Moraes never played a game for Metalurh before he rejoined the team in the summer of 2012.

CSKA Sofia

Before 2011–12 season Moraes joined Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia. He made his A Group debut on 12 September 2011 in a 3–0 home win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, scoring a penalty. On 2 October, Moraes scored twice in a 3–0 away win over Svetkavitsa. He scored a hattrick versus Litex Lovech on 19 May. Moraes eventually finished the 2011-12 A Group season as joint top scorer with Ivan Stoyanov.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 22 May 2015, Moraes signed a 3–year contract with Dynamo Kyiv, who at the time have won the Ukrainian League which had automatically qualified them to the UEFA Champions League group stage. Since his contract with Metalurh was expiring in the summer of 2015, he joined Dynamo as a free agent. He made his official debut for Dynamo in the Ukrainian Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk, which Dynamo lost 0–2, conceding both goals in the injury time of the second half while being down to 10 men. Despite the loss, Moraes was one of the best players on the pitch as he managed to get many opportunities, one of which hit the crossbar. On 25 July 2015, Moraes scored his first official goal for Dynamo on the 61st minute in a 2–0 win against Olimpik Donetsk in the Ukrainian Premier League and was one of the best players on the pitch despite the fact that his team was down to 9 men in the second half.

On 16 September 2015, Moraes made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 2–2 draw against Portuguese club FC Porto in the group stage. On 29 September 2015, Moraes scored his first ever UEFA Champions League goal in the second group stage match, scoring the second goal on the 50th minute in a 0-2 away win against Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. In that season he helped Dynamo reach the 1/8 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 16 years, getting knocked out by Manchester City 1-3 on aggregate, as well as winning the Ukrainian Premier League.

International career

Júnior Moraes indicated that he would be likely to accept a call-up for Ukraine national football team if asked.

Honours

Individual