Sixty years of the red-black Maestro
The player who defended the Sacred Mantle the most times and left-back of the 1981 World Cup winning team, Junior is six decades old.
By Communication - Official Club Website - in
This Sunday (June 29.06), Leovegildo Lins Gama Junior, known as Junior, turns 60. One of the best players in the history of soccer, the Paraíba native from João Pessoa is the athlete who has played for the Red and Black the most and won the most matches for the club: 872 games and 504 victories. With 409 games for the Biggest Stadium in the World, "Vovô Garoto" is also the Flamengo player who has played the most at Maracanã. With an enviable resume, the numbers could not be different: "Maestro" is the footballer with the most titles in the club's history, tied only with Zico, winning 42 trophies.
Ambidextrous and versatile, Junior defended the Manto Sagrado as a right-back (shirt 4) in 1974 and 1975, left-back (shirt 5) from 1976 to 1984, defender (shirt 6) in 1989, and again shirt 5, when he played as a midfielder, between 1990 and 1993. His main titles were the Libertadores and the World Cup in 1981 and the four Brazilian titles: 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1992.
Eighteen years passed between Junior's first (Carioca 1974) and last (Brazilian Championship 1992) title for Flamengo, always as a starter. "Capacete," a nickname he earned when he sported a thick afro, was the team's captain and top scorer with nine goals in their fifth Brazilian Championship title, the year he turned 38. Besides scoring twice in both final games against Botafogo (Fla 3-0 and 2-2), Junior was also named the best player of that Brasileirão by the CBF and Placar magazine, which awarded him the coveted Ballon d'Or. The star player also won the Silver Ball in 1980, 1983, and 1984 (as best left-back) and in 1991 (as one of the best midfielders in the competition).
Junior was discovered by Flamengo playing pickup games on Copacabana Beach by former Flamengo idol Modesto Bria, who brought him to Gávea in 1974. That same year, Junior established himself in the first team and helped Flamengo win the 1974 state title at the age of 20. The former athlete made history until 1984, when he went to play in Italy, and returned five years later, staying until 1993, at the age of 39. In his last stint, the Maestro was captain of Flamengo between 1991 and 1993. During that period, he won the 1991 Rio de Janeiro state championship and the 1992 Brazilian championship.
For the Brazilian national team, Junior played in the 1982 World Cup as a Flamengo player, as well as in the 1979 and 1983 Copa América. As a player for Torino, Italy, he participated in the 1986 World Cup.
Ambidextrous and versatile, Junior defended the Manto Sagrado as a right-back (shirt 4) in 1974 and 1975, left-back (shirt 5) from 1976 to 1984, defender (shirt 6) in 1989, and again shirt 5, when he played as a midfielder, between 1990 and 1993. His main titles were the Libertadores and the World Cup in 1981 and the four Brazilian titles: 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1992.
Eighteen years passed between Junior's first (Carioca 1974) and last (Brazilian Championship 1992) title for Flamengo, always as a starter. "Capacete," a nickname he earned when he sported a thick afro, was the team's captain and top scorer with nine goals in their fifth Brazilian Championship title, the year he turned 38. Besides scoring twice in both final games against Botafogo (Fla 3-0 and 2-2), Junior was also named the best player of that Brasileirão by the CBF and Placar magazine, which awarded him the coveted Ballon d'Or. The star player also won the Silver Ball in 1980, 1983, and 1984 (as best left-back) and in 1991 (as one of the best midfielders in the competition).
Junior was discovered by Flamengo playing pickup games on Copacabana Beach by former Flamengo idol Modesto Bria, who brought him to Gávea in 1974. That same year, Junior established himself in the first team and helped Flamengo win the 1974 state title at the age of 20. The former athlete made history until 1984, when he went to play in Italy, and returned five years later, staying until 1993, at the age of 39. In his last stint, the Maestro was captain of Flamengo between 1991 and 1993. During that period, he won the 1991 Rio de Janeiro state championship and the 1992 Brazilian championship.
For the Brazilian national team, Junior played in the 1982 World Cup as a Flamengo player, as well as in the 1979 and 1983 Copa América. As a player for Torino, Italy, he participated in the 1986 World Cup.