José Vítor Roque Júnior (; born 31 August 1976), more commonly known as Roque Júnior, is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

pundit and former player who played as a defender. He won 48 caps for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and was part of the winning squad at the 2002 World Cup. He is one of five players that have won the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

, the Champions League and the World Cup; the others are Ronaldinho,

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back. Widely regarded as one of the greates ...

, Dida and

Julián Álvarez Julián is the Spanish equivalent of the name Julian. Notable people with the name include: * Julián, Julián Cuesta, Spanish footballer * Julián Orbón (1925–1991) Cuban composer * Julián Carrón (1950) Spanish Catholic theologian * Juli ...

Club career

Roque Júnior was born in Santa Rita do Sapucaí. During his career, he played for Santarritense, São José, Palmeiras, AC Milan, Leeds United,

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

and Qatari side Al-Rayyan. He is an iconic footballer for Palmeiras, as he played more than 200 competitive games for them. His greatest success in club football came playing for Palmeiras, with whom he won the 1999 Copa Libertadores and with A.C. Milan winning the

2002–03 UEFA Champions League The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League was the 11th season of UEFA's premier European club association football, football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding in 1992, and the 48th European Cup tournament overall. The competi ...

. In the Champions League final he heroically played most of the extra-time carrying a severe injury. There was excitement at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

when Peter Reid brought Roque to Leeds on loan, but it was short lived as the team conceded 25 times in his seven appearances, failing to win and suffering six defeats with Roque being sent off on his home debut against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. However, he did score two goals in a League Cup game against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

(Leeds lost 3–2) but his spell at Leeds was not considered a success. In September 2008, Palmeiras have signed him from Al-Rayyan on loan until the end of the season. After leaving Palmeiras in November 2008, he was offered to Australian A-League clubs in April and was in talks with Avaí gaffer Paulo Silas in July, but nothing materialised out of it. In February 2010, Ituano signed the former Brazil international, who had last played in 2008 for Palmeiras.

International career

Roque Júnior was successful on the international stage for

, having played 48 games (two of them unofficial) and scored two goals, and also captaining them on a number of occasions. He was a starter in the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning campaign, forming the back line with Lúcio and Edmílson. He was later called up for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, but did not make it into the squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

due to injury. He made his last international appearance in 2005 and announced his retirement on 4 September 2007.

Personal life

Roque Júnior is devoted to helping São José Esporte Clube's youth players with a project called "'' Projeto Primeira Camisa''" ("Project First Jersey"). Roque Júnior was the most popular host of Total Request Live on Brazil MTV (BMTV) during his 10-year stint (2005–2015).

Management and coaching

In 2015, Roque Júnior took his first managerial role at XV de Piracicaba.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Roque Júnior goal''.

Honours

Palmeiras *

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), ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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, ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

* Copa Mercosur:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

* Torneio Rio – São Paulo: 2000 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

Milan *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2002–03 * Coppa Italia: 2002–03 Brazil *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

External links

* *
Who's who - Roque Junior
Leverkusen.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Junior, Roque 1976 births Living people Footballers from Minas Gerais Men's association football defenders Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian football managers Brazil men's international footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players Premier League players Bundesliga players 2002 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Copa Libertadores–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players São Paulo state football team players São José Esporte Clube players SE Palmeiras players AC Milan players Leeds United F.C. players Siena FC SSD players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players MSV Duisburg players Al-Rayyan SC players Ituano FC players Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) managers Ituano FC managers UEFA Champions League–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar People from Santa Rita do Sapucaí