Adeus ao Nosso Capitão

By: John | May 28th, 2009

It’s official: Tuesday Juninho,alongside JMA, Bernarde Lacombe and Claude Puel, anounced his intention to leave OL after eight seasons. Although it would have been nice to send-off Lyon’s son with an eigth Le Championnat trophy, but it wasn’t to be. Regardless, OL’s captain made sure that he would not leave his squad without-as he has done so many times in the past- leading them into victory. Juni has led his team, out of the abyss- as so many times in the past- and contributed heavily to their final push, and march back to reclaim there rightful place, along-side the champions of Europe.
In Lyon’s final surge to get back into the CL, Juni netted two goals in Lyon’s last three matches, sealing the victory at Marseille with one of his trademark freekicks, and striking the first goal vs. Caen- his 100th goal for OL- which cemented third place in the league and a CL bearth. The master of the freekick would create his own grand finale, leaving the Lyon faithful with final glimpses of the sublime play of a man who was such an integral part of Lyon’s rise to dominance- over a half a decade of L1 supremacy, and eight CL appearences.

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Junior, was recruited by Lyon after Bernard Lacombe saw a tape of the then, young Vasco de Gama player, working his magic in the Brazil. Juni’s arrival at Lyon in the 2001-2002 season saw OL win their first Championnat title, and coincided with the Lyon’s acendency to the summit of League 1 with their dominating run of seven consecutive titles, leading many to label Junior as Lyon’s “Talisman.”
Juni’s leadership abilities and spirit soon made themselves evident and earned him the captain’s armband under Gerard Houllier. Junior’s spirit would become an integral part of Lyon’s “golden age” and time and time and again- this year’s match vs. Nice when we came back from 2-0 is a classic example-he would marshal his men toward victory, and frequently turn games around in OL’s favor with his play, especially his deadly static-ball free kicks.
But this season, we saw that the twilight was upon Juninho. It’s hard not to watch a fading icon who still has something in him, play and not feel some desire for him to continue on, but I’m glad he chose this moment and that he will go-out with a masterful performance. I think we all saw that the end was drawing near during this current season, with injuries and his legs just not giving as much as they once did. But these things did not stop the man, inspite of OL’s form slipping in what was a transition year for the club, in which few thought OL would finish first this season , Juni took it upon himself to lead his squad out of a dreadful slump, and see that his club finished as winners.
No words could ever really express what Juninho has meant to Lyon. His retirement is a very sad occasion in that it marks the end of a very special time in OL’s history and deprives the club of a key element that made it what it is today. It is a very sad occasion yet I’m very happy that Juni finished his career at OL exactly the way he always played for the club: as a winner. It’s a sad farewell, and he will be sorely missed.

Here’s one of a bunch of videos of many a keeper’s worst nightmare:

Here are some interesting stats of Juni’s play at Lyon, pulled from OL’s website:

-Winner of seven league titles, one Coupe de France, three Trophées des Champions.
-Has scored 100 goals for OL.
-He ranks fourth all-time amoungst Lyon’s most prolific scorers, behind Di Nallo, Lacombe, and Chiesa.
-75 goals in the Championnat, 18 in the Champions League, 7 in the Coupe de France.
-44 free kicks for scores: 29 at Gerland, 15 away. 10 in the Champions League, 3 in the Coupe de France, and 28 in the Championnat.

-Free kicks by season and his victims i.e., the keepers:

2001-2002 : 1 vs. Sochaux (Fernandez)
2002-2003 : 5 vs. Sedan (Regnault), Lens (Warmuz), Auxerre x 2 (Cool), Rennes (Durand).
2003-2004 : 5 vs. Lens (Itandje), Nice (Grégorini), Bastia (Penneteau), at Metz (Butelle), at Bayern (Kahn).
2004-2005 : 8 at ASSE (Janot), at Ajaccio (Porato), Metz (Wimbée), Toulouse x 2 (Revault), Istres (Weber), at Viry (Mérigot), at Werder (Reinke). 75 free kicks taken.

2005-2006 : 8 Ajaccio (Porato), at Ajaccio (Porato), Nantes (Heurtebis), Real (Casillas), Olympiakos (Nikopolidis), at Olympiakos (Giannou), at Eindhoven (Gomes), Le Mans (Roche). 78 free kicks taken.

2006-2007 : 5 Troyes (Le Crom), at Bayonne (Bouet), at Kiev (Lutsenko), at Marseille (Carasso), at Lens (Itandje). 112 free kicks taken.

2007-2008 : 5 Toulouse (Douchez), Sedan (Regnault), Strasbourg (Cassard), Barcelone (Valdez), at Metz (Marichez). 96 free kicks taken.

2008-2009 : 7 Nice (Letizi x 2), 1 Steaua (Zapatta), 1 ASSE (Janot), 1 Le Havre (Revault), 1 Barcelona (Valdez), 1 at Marseille (Mandanda). 81 free kicks taken.

-14 penalties : 11 at Gerland and 3 away, and 1 missed penalty (Nantes). 3 in the CL (Barcelona, Celtic, Anderlecht).

-5 left-footed goals: 2003-2004 Real Sociedad, Bourg Peronas ; 2004-2005 à St-Etienne ; 2005-2006 Metz ; 2007-2008 à Créteil.

-4 headers: 2002-2003 Sochaux ; 2006-2007 au PSG ; 2007-2008 Valenciennes et OM.

-91 right-footed goals.

-L1 Keepers he hasn’t scored-on : Ramé, Bracigliano, Lloris, Sorin, Riou, Ruffier.

-Teams he’s never scored against: Bordeaux, Nancy, Lorient, Grenoble.

-Where he’s never scored : at Bordeaux, at Mans, at Valenciennes, at Toulouse, at Sochaux, at Monaco, at Caen, at Lorient, at Nancy, and at Grenoble.

-He’s played 344 matches, and 27 000 minutes. Break-down by season:

1) 29 + 12 = 41 (5 goals ; 3 157mns) 86 goals in 48 matches
2) 31 + 11 = 43 (13 goals ; 2 694) 85 goals and 50 matches
3) 32 + 14 = 46 (17 goals ; 3 703) 88 goals and 53 matches
4) 32 + 14 = 46 (16 goals ; 3 931) 93 goals and 53 matches
5) 32 + 12 = 44 (14 goals ; 3 745) 105 goals and 54 matches
6) 31 + 11 = 42 (12 goals ; 3 443) 89 goals and 54 matches
7) 32 + 14 = 46 (13 goals ; 3 508) 102 goals and 55 matches
29 + 9 = 38 (10 goals ; 2 919) 79 goals and 50 matches

-53 yellow cards ; 4 red cards (2 in the Champions League).

-In 111 matches out of 344 played(32.2%), Juni has contributed to the outcome, either through passing or scoring.

-First Match:
At Lens in the Championnat, 28 July 2001 ( 2-0 loss).

-First Goal:
At Bastia, 12 Agust 2001.

-First goal at Gerland:
29 September 2001 vs. Rennes (two including a penalty ; win 4-2).

-First Champions League goal:
17th September 2003, OL vs. Anderlecht, 1-0 penalty.

-64 goals at Gerland and 36 away.

-Juninho has been involved in 40.6% of all the scoring and assists that has taken place while he’s was on the field!!!!!