Júnior Fernándes

Antenor Júnior Fernándes da Silva Vitoria (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɟʝunjoɾ feɾˈnandes]; born 10 April 1988) is a Chilean footballer of Brazilian descent who plays for Turkish club Alanyaspor as a forward.

Not to be confused with Junior Fernández.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Fernándes da Silva and the second or maternal family name is Vitoria.
Júnior Fernándes
Fernándes with Dinamo Zagreb in 2016
Personal information
Full name Antenor Júnior Fernándes da Silva Vitoria
Date of birth (1988-04-10) 10 April 1988
Place of birth Tocopilla, Chile
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Alanyaspor
Number 10
Youth career
2005–2006 Cobreloa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Cobreloa 51 (2)
2007 → Mejillones (loan) 20 (12)
2010 Magallanes 25 (10)
2011 Palestino 35 (9)
2012 Universidad de Chile 17 (8)
2012–2014 Bayer Leverkusen 6 (0)
2013–2014 → Dinamo Zagreb (loan) 28 (13)
2014–2017 Dinamo Zagreb 74 (25)
2017 → Alanyaspor (loan) 14 (6)
2017– Alanyaspor 52 (18)
National team‡
2011– Chile 19 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 August 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 July 2019

Club career

Cobreloa

Son of Brazilian parents, Fernándes moved from his native Tocopilla to Calama at the age of six, where he attended school along with his brother Christian. There, they participated in sports and music. While he lived in Calama, he joined the lower divisions of Cobreloa, participating in each of their youth categories and was integrated to Cobreloa's B team that participated in the Chilean Third Division during the 2006 season. In this period of time, he shared team and home with countryman forward Alexis Sánchez.

Later, in 2007, he was sent on loan to Mejillones (another third division team) after Cobreloa gave up their reserve team.

After the request of coach Lewis Sheldon, Fernándes joined Cobreloa's first team to face the Clausura tournament . His professional debut came in the fourth round of the championship, when he replaced striker Felipe Flores in a match that would end with a 2–1 victory over La Serena. His first time as a starter was in a game against Melipilla, which ended in a 5–1 victory, with Fernándes scoring a hat trick.

Palestino

In 2010, he played for Magallanes of the Chilean Tercera División A where he became the figure of the team that won the championship and was promoted to the Primera B. His outstanding performance on Magallanes caught the attention of Palestino, joining them in 2011, and thanks to his good results, he later was nominated for the Under 25 Chile national football team.

Universidad de Chile

On 2 December 2011, Palestino agreed on the sale of 50% of his pass with a US$700,000 transfer to Universidad de Chile aiming to win the 2012 Apertura tournament, and thinking that the team will play Copa Libertadores next year.[2] On 5 December, he was presented in the offices of "the Blues" Sports Complex with the No. 9 jersey.[3] Fernándes made his debut for the club, scoring and providing an assist in a 3–1 win over Deportes La Serena on 4 February 2012. In the league, he would score five goals. In the play-offs Apertura, Fernándes scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Colo-Colo on 24 June 2012. Elsewhere in the Copa Libertadores, Fernándes scored a hat-trick and set up a goal in a 5–1 win over Godoy Cruz and soon scored a brace and providing an assist in a 6–0 win over Deportivo Quito. Soon after scoring goals, he would received criticism over his performance.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 6 July 2012, he signed for Bundesliga squad Bayer 04 Leverkusen from Universidad de Chile for a transfer fee of €7 million and a five-year contract.[4] Fernándes made his debut for the club, scoring on his debut in first round of DFB-Pokal in a 4–0 win over Carl Zeiss Jena; seven days later, he made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in a 2–1 loss against Frankfurt. However, in his first season, Júnior Fernándes playing time was reduced, as well his first team and haven't scored his first goal for the club.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 26 May 2013, it was announced that Fernándes signed a one-year-loan contract with the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.[5][6] On 23 April 2014, following the end of his loan spell, Fernándes signed a six-year contract with Dinamo Zagreb.[7]

Alanyaspor

In January 2017 he was loaned to Alanyaspor until the end of the 2016/17 season. He returned to Dinamo and scored 2 goals against defending league champion Rijeka. However, as Dinamo failed to qualify into Europa League, they sold him to Alanyaspor, now as a permanent transfer instead of a loan.

International career

Fernándes was summoned to the Chile national football team to face friendly matches during the second half of 2011 by team manager Claudio Borghi. He debuted officially in the national team on 11 September 2012, on a qualifying match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup against Colombia.

He was named in the preliminary squad for the 2015 Copa América but was omitted from the final squad.[8] He finally made the final squad for the 2019 Copa América, his first major tournament.

Honours

Club
Magallanes
  • Tercera División de Chile (1): 2010
Universidad de Chile

References
  1. Dinamo Zagreb Profile
  2. "Junior Fernandes cada vez más cerca de la U: Este viernes visitó el búnker azul" [Fernandes Junior closer to the U: This Friday visited the bunker blue] (in Spanish). Emol. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  3. "Junior llega a la U y dice que cumple sueño antes que Alexis" [Junior comes to the U and says that fulfills dream before Alexis] (in Spanish). Terra Chile. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  4. "Bayer Leverkusen confirma llegada de Junior Fernandes" [Bayer Leverkusen confirms arrival of Junior Fernandes] (in Spanish). Emol. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  5. "Bayer Leverkusen sends Chile forward Junior Fernandes to Dinamo Zagreb". Times Colonist. 27 May 2013. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014.
  6. "Junior Fernandes is loaned to Dinamo Zagreb" [Junior Fernandes es cedido a préstamo al Dinamo Zagreb] (in Spanish). La Tercera. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  7. "Junior Fernandes ostaje u Dinamu!". gnkdinamo.hr. 23 April 2014..html
  8. "Sampaoli confirms final Chile squad for Copa América". goal.com. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
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