Ocimar de Almeida Júnior or simply Júnior Urso (born 10 March 1989) is a Brazilian 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

Career

Brazil

Júnior started his career in

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwad ...

. In 2010, he transferred to Ituano. After a good performance in early 2011, he had his federative rights purchased to

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 5,436 (2020 est.) in an area of 540 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to be serve ...

and was loaned to

Paraná Clube Paraná Clube, commonly referred to as Paraná, is a Brazilian professional club based in Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 ...

immediately. In the middle of 2011 season, Avaí called back Junior Urso to play in the Série A. He made his debut for Avaí in the game which Avaí loses to Grêmio in Ressacada. In the end of 2011, he was hired with

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as heCoxa, is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909 by German immigrants, it is the olde ...

Shandong Luneng

In February 2014, Urso moved to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

giants

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Jinan, Shandong, that competes in . Shandong Taishan plays its home matches at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, located within Lixia District. Their c ...

and proceeded to score the first goal of the season against

Harbin Yiteng Shaoxing Keqiao Yuejia Football Club () were a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League Two division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Shaoxing, Zhejiang and their home ...

Loan to Atlético Mineiro

Following contract disputes with Shandong Luneng, the Chinese club loaned Urso back to Brazil where he played the 2016 season with

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

. The loan fee was a reported US$2 million ( R$7.2 million).

Guangzhou R&F

On 9 January 2017, Júnior moved to fellow Super League side

Guangzhou R&F Guangzhou City Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club which last competed in the Chinese Super League. The team was based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The club's name between 2011 and 2020 was Guangzhou R&F, which was short for ' ...

Corinthians

On 4 February 2019, Júnior Urso returned to Brazil, signing with

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

after Guangzhou terminated his contract. He made his debut for the team on 17 February against

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

in the

2019 Campeonato Paulista The 2019 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 118th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Corinthians became the champion. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams were draw ...

, a competition Corinthians would go on to win. Three days later he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 win over Avenida in the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

Orlando City

On 6 January 2020, Corinthians confirmed the sale of Urso to

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

team Orlando City ahead of the 2020 season, reportedly for a fee of $900k. Orlando announced his arrival the following week. Urso made his debut for the team in the season opener, captaining the side in place of the suspended Nani as Orlando earned a 0–0 draw against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. On 29 August 2020, Urso scored the opener in a 3–1 win over

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

, Orlando's first ever win in the rivalry's history. On 10 November 2022, Orlando City and Urso mutually agreed to terminate his contract, allowing Urso to return to Brazil for personal reasons. In three seasons, he made a total of 100 appearances in all competitions and scored 14 goals. In July 2023, Urso rejoined Orlando City. In December 2023, as part of the end of season roster moves, it was announced Urso had his option declined and was released as a free agent.

Charlotte FC

On 21 February 2024, Urso signed with

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

ahead of their 2024 season. Charlotte declined his contract option following their 2024 season.

Houston Dynamo

Urso signed with

11 February 2025.

Personal life

Urso's brother is former professional footballer Peter de Almeida who retired in 2015 to become Junior's agent.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Coritiba *

Campeonato Paranaense The Campeonato Paranaense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is run by the Paraná Football Federation (FPF). List of champions Notes * In 1924 Internacional and América merged in ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

;Shandong Luneng *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a Chinese football super cup competition that takes place every year before the start of the new season. It is contested between the champions of the previous Chinese Su ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

;Corinthians *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

;Orlando City *

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

Team of the Tournament:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* *
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Urso, Junior Living people 1989 births Brazilian men's footballers Esporte Clube Santo André players Paraná Clube players Avaí FC players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Expatriate men's footballers in China Shandong Taishan F.C. players Guangzhou City F.C. players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Chinese Super League players Men's association football midfielders Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Orlando City SC players Charlotte FC players Houston Dynamo FC players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players Footballers from Taboão da Serra 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen