Junior Firpo

Junior
Personal information
Full name Héctor Junior Firpo Adamés
Date of birth (1996-08-22) 22 August 1996
Place of birth Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
 Betis
Number 20
Youth career
2011–2012 Atlético Benamiel
2012–2013 Tiro Pichón
2013–2014 Puerto Malagueño
2014–2015 Betis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Betis B 74 (8)
2018– Betis 15 (2)
National team‡
2018– Spain U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 August 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2018

Héctor Junior Firpo Adamés (born 22 August 1996), simply known as Junior, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Real Betis. Mainly a left back, he can also play as a left winger or a central defender.

Club career

Born in Santo Domingo, Junior moved to Benalmádena, Málaga, Andalusia at the age of six[1] and joined Real Betis' youth setup in June 2014, aged 18, from CD Puerto Malagueño.[2] He made his senior debut with the reserves on 15 February 2015, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Granada CF B for the Segunda División B championship.

Definitely promoted to the B-side ahead of the 2015–16 season, Junior appeared regularly during the season, which ended in relegation. On 17 April 2016 he scored his first senior goal, netting the third in a 4–0 away routing of Algeciras CF.

On 1 August 2017, after spending the whole pre-season with the main squad, Junior renewed his contract until 2021.[3] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut the following 12 February, starting in a 1–0 away defeat of Deportivo de La Coruña, becoming the first Dominican Republic-born player who have ever featured in La Liga.[4]

Junior scored his first professional on 17 March 2018, netting the first in a 3–0 home win against RCD Espanyol.[5] On 19 August, after being definitely promoted to the main squad, he agreed to a contract extension until 2023.[6]

International career

Born in the Dominican Republic and having spent most of his life in Spain, Junior holds citizenship of both countries.[4] On 9 October 2015, he played the entire second half of a 0–6 non-FIFA friendly loss for the Dominican Republic senior national team against the Brazil Olympic team.[7]

On 31 August 2018, Junior was called up to the Spain under-21 team for two 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying matches against Albania and Northern Ireland.[8] He made his debut on 7 September, starting in a 3–0 win against the former.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Juvenil | Junior Firpo, "Black Power" para el juvenil del Real Betis" [Juvenil | Junior Firpo, "Black Power" for Real Betis' youth team] (in Spanish). Futbol Carrasco. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "El Betis cierra varios fichajes para su cantera" [Betis complete various signings for their youth setup] (in Spanish). Manquepierda. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Junior extends his contract with Real Betis". Real Betis. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  4. 1 2 Lastra, Luis (23 February 2018). "Junior: «Cuando llegué a España, no sabía ni qué era el fútbol»" [Junior: «When I arrived in Spain, I did not even know what football was»] (in Spanish). El Correo de Andalucía. Retrieved 31 August 2018. I have dual citizenship because I've been here (in Spain) for fifteen years. It is not that I consider myself more Spanish than Dominican, because I feel very proud of being Dominican and of my country, but I have been here for a long time and I also consider myself Spanish.
  5. ↑ "El Betis mira a Europa en la noche negra de Pau" [Betis aim to Europa in Pau's dark night] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Junior and Real Betis extend the existing contract between them until 2023". Real Betis. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Seleção olímpica arrasa a frágil República Dominicana em Manaus" [Olympic national team thrash the fragile Dominican Republic in Manaus] (in Portuguese). Rolando a Bola. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "OFICIAL | Esta es la convocatoria para los partidos ante Albania e Irlanda del Norte" [OFFICIAL | This is the call-up for the matches against Albania and Northern Ireland] (in Spanish). Selección Española de Fútbol. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "3–0: España vence a Albania y sella su pase a la Eurocopa sub-21" [3–0: Spain defeat Albania and seal their qualification to the under-21 EURO] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
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