Edon Júnior Viegas Amaral (born 7 March 1994), known as Edinho Júnior, is a Portuguese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Career

Edinho started his career in Portuguese club

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

's youth team where he caught the eye of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, who were rumored to be interested in signing the player for £500,000.

Blackburn Rovers

In June 2012, Edinho went on trial at English club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and signed for the club on 25 July 2012 after impressing in the trial, for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. Edinho was allocated the squad number 19 and made his first team debut in a 2–1 win against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

, Edinho started the game and played in the first half, before he was replaced by

David Goodwillie David Goodwillie (born 28 March 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Glasgow United. Born in Stirling, Goodwillie came through the Dundee United youth system and he won the SPFA and SFWA Young Player of th ...

for the second half. On 13 February 2013 Edinho signed on loan for an

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

club

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong Football Club (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya. The club is currently competing in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system, following promotio ...

Shillong Lajong (loan)

Edinho joined the I-League side

on loan on 15 February 2013 until 30 June 2013. He made his debut against

Pune FC Pune Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club competed in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. The club was one of the most professional clubs in Indian football histor ...

on 24 March 2013. He scored two goals as the match ended 2–2. In total, he made six appearances and scored two goals for

. FIFA has made a documentary on him and his dancing skills for the club and released it as FIFA Football Mundial- A dancing 'Hero' in India.

Whitehawk (loan)

On 19 July 2013, Edinho joined newly promoted

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

on a one-month loan deal. On 18 September 2013, he returned to Blackburn after making three appearances for Whitehawk.

Harrisburg City Islanders

On 24 January 2014, Edinho joined

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

side

Harrisburg City Islanders Harrisburg City Islanders, known as Penn FC in their final season, were an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the ...

on a free transfer.

Farense

In July 2014, Edinho joined Segunda Liga side Farense.

International career

Edinho made his debut for Portugal U19 on 8 February 2013, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute in a 3–0 friendly win over Norway U19. Then, in June 2013, he played in 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification against Bulgaria U19, a 7–0 win, and Czech Republic U19, a 4–1 win, coming on as substitute in both games.

Personal life

Edinho is the son of former Brazilian footballer

Edon Amaral Neto Edon Amaral Neto (born 21 February 1967), commonly known as Edinho, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker. Playing career Born in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Edinho played for modest clubs in his homeland. In 1990, he moved to Por ...

.He is married with Bianca Iulia Safta Amaral since 2021.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edinho, Junior 1994 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Faro, Portugal Portugal men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Liga Portugal 2 players English Football League players I-League players National League (English football) players USL Championship players Liga I players S.C. Olhanense players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Shillong Lajong FC players Whitehawk F.C. players Penn FC players S.C. Farense players S.R. Almancilense players CS Gaz Metan Mediaș players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen