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Júnior Moraes

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This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Chaves Ribeiro and the second or paternal family name is Moraes.

Júnior Moraes
Moraes in 2018
Personal information
Full name Aluísio Chaves Ribeiro
Moraes Júnior
Date of birth (1987-04-04) 4 April 1987 (age 38)
Place of birth Santos, Brazil
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Santos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Santos 24 (4)
2008 → Ponte Preta (loan) 7 (0)
2009 Santo André 8 (2)
2010–2011 Gloria Bistrița 32 (18)
2011–2015 Metalurh Donetsk 63 (35)
2011–2012 → CSKA Sofia (loan) 26 (17)
2015–2018 Dynamo Kyiv 54 (22)
2017 → Tianjin Quanjian (loan) 3 (0)
2018–2022 Shakhtar Donetsk 72 (46)
2022–2023 Corinthians 14 (1)
Total 293 (143)
International career‡
2019–2021 Ukraine 11 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 June 2023

Aluísio Chaves Ribeiro Moraes Júnior (Ukrainian: Алуі́зіо Ча́вес Рібе́йро Мора́ес Жу́ніор; born 4 April 1987), commonly known as Júnior Moraes or just Moraes, is a retired footballer who played as a forward. Born in Brazil, he has previously played for the Ukraine national team.[2]

Biography

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Moraes was born in a family of sportsmen. His father was a very good football player. He played for Flamengo and Santos. He has a brother Bruno who also started his football career at Santos, while his sister ended her football career because of an injury. His mother was a Paulista tennis champion.[3]

He started to play football in São Paulo when he was 4 years old, being in the same group with Robinho.[3] To Europe Júnior Moraes arrived when his brother Bruno was playing for ACF Gloria Bistrița in 2010. After playing few years in Balkans (Romania, Bulgaria), in 2012 Júnior Moraes moved to Ukraine where he played for several top-level teams in Kyiv and Donetsk. Due to the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion, he moved back to Brazil.

Career

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Start and Brazilian period

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Moraes was promoted to the senior team of Santos by coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo at the age of 18.

He then scored a goal in the 2007 Campeonato Paulista final between Santos and São Caetano, helping his side to the title.

Debut in Europe and Gloria Bistrița

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Moraes playing for CSKA Sofia in 2011.

Moraes made an impressive debut in Liga I for Gloria Bistrița, scoring 10 goals in 17 appearances. However, the club itself struggled placing only 11. His good run continued in the first part of the 2010–11 Liga I season as he accumulated 8 goals for 2010-11 season[4] and a total of 18 goals for Gloria Bistrița in both seasons of the Romanian football championship. Placing only 14 among 18 clubs, Gloria Bistrița were denied a licence for the next 2011–12 season because of accumulated debt and were therefore relegated to Liga II.[5]

CSKA Sofia and Metalurh Donetsk

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Facing financial crisis on 12 February 2011, Gloria Bistrița announced that Moraes was sold to Ukrainian Premier League squad Metalurh Donetsk, for a reported fee of €1.25 million.[6] However, Moraes never played a game for Metalurh before he rejoined the team in the summer of 2012.

Before 2011–12 season Moraes joined Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia. He made his A Group debut on 12 September 2011 in a 3–0 home win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, scoring a penalty. On 2 October, Moraes scored twice in a 3–0 away win over Svetkavitsa. He scored a hattrick versus Litex Lovech on 19 May. Moraes eventually finished the 2011–12 A Group season as joint top scorer with Ivan Stoyanov.[7] However, CSKA Sofia was outperformed surprisingly by a point by Ludogorets that won the national title for the first time and CSKA qualified to the UEFA Europe League instead of the Champions League.

In his first season in Ukraine for Metalurh during the 2012–13 season Junior Moraes placed 4th in topscorer list with 11 tallies sharing the place with Andriy Yarmolenko. He missed the first game of season for Metalurh against Dynamo Kyiv and made his debut in the Ukrainian Premier League on 22 July 2012 at the home game of Round 2 against Zorya Luhansk, which Metalurh lost 1–2 playing at their home stadium Metalurh in Donetsk.[8] Junior Moraes was substituted out by the Brazilian-born Belgian Danilo on the 70th minute.[8] That season Metalurh eventually qualified to the UEFA Europe League and Moraes finally made his debut at the European club competition at the away game against Albanian side of FK Kukësi. Playing the first game in Tirana on August 1, 2013, Metalurh lost it 0–2 and Moraes was substituted by Maksym Dehtyaryov on 70th minute. A week thereafter, Kukësi that was making their debut at the European club competitions managed to hold off Metalurh in Donetsk in an away loss 0–1, while Junior Moraes played the full match.

The next season (2013–14) was the best for Moraes in Metalurh. He scored 19 goals in the Ukrainian Premier League yielding the topscorer award to Luiz Adriano by a single goal. With the start of the Russo-Ukraine War in 2014, Metalurh Donetsk faced some financial hardship and struggled in performance placing only 6th. Nonetheless, the club managed to reach status of a candidate for the UEFA continental competitions. In April of 2014, their status was denied[9] and passed on to next club.

With the war developing, Metalurh was forced to relocate to Kyiv from Donetsk for the 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League season playing at the Obolon Arena. In addition, at the beginning of the season on 9 September 2014 Metalurh Donetsk were deducted a total of 6 points on decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.[10] With return of Volodymyr Pyatenko to Metalurh Donetsk, Junior Moraes appearances decreased and he scored only 5 goals in the league competitions.

Dynamo Kyiv

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Júnior Moraes with Dynamo Kyiv in 2015.

With the ongoing 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League season, on 22 May 2015, Moraes signed a three-year contract with Dynamo Kyiv, who at the time have won the Ukrainian League which had automatically qualified them to the UEFA Champions League group stage. Since his contract with Metalurh was expiring in the summer of 2015, he joined Dynamo as a free agent. He made his official debut for Dynamo in the Ukrainian Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk, which Dynamo lost 0–2, conceding both goals in the injury time of the second half while being down to 10 men. Despite the loss, Moraes was one of the best players on the pitch as he got many opportunities, one of which hit the crossbar. On 25 July 2015, Moraes scored his first official goal for Dynamo on the 61st minute in a 2–0 win against Olimpik Donetsk in the Ukrainian Premier League and was one of the best players on the pitch despite the fact that his team was down to 9 men in the second half.[citation needed]

On 16 September 2015, Moraes made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 2–2 draw against Portuguese club FC Porto in the group stage. On 29 September 2015, Moraes scored his first ever UEFA Champions League goal in the second group stage match, scoring the second goal on the 50th minute in a 0–2 away win against Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. In that season he helped Dynamo reach the 1/8 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 16 years, getting knocked out by Manchester City 1–3 on aggregate, as well as winning the Ukrainian Premier League.[citation needed]

Shakhtar Donetsk

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On 18 June 2018, Moraes signed a two-year contract with Shakhtar Donetsk after his contract with his previous club and Shakhtar's UPL rival Dynamo Kyiv ran out.[11]

On 8 December 2021, Moraes extended his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk until 30 June 2022.[12]

Corinthians

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On 16 March 2022, Moraes joined Corinthians on a permanent deal until December 2023.[13]

International career

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Moraes indicated that he would be likely to accept a call-up for Ukraine national team if asked.[14][15] On 5 March 2019, Ukrainian journalist announced that Moraes has already filed for citizenship and awaits approval.[16]

Right before the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, it was announced that he received Ukrainian citizenship 13 days later by a decree of President Petro Poroshenko[2] and made his debut as a substituted player in the drawn match against Portugal national team on 22 March 2019. He became the third Brazilian to have been capped for Ukraine after Edmar and Marlos, who made their debut in 2011 and 2017, respectively.

Soon after receiving his naturalization, Júnior Moraes became in the middle of international scandal connected with the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. Following the bleak performance of the Portugal national team in the opening match against Ukraine and loss of the Luxembourg national team from Ukraine in the following round of the tournament, one of the Portuguese media (Mais futebol) came out with an article questioning legality of the Moraes's naturalization.[17] In his article the "Mais futebol" deputy director Sérgio Pereira argued that not only Júnior Moraes does not have any kinship to Ukraine, but he did not even live in Ukraine for the required period of time.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 23 March 2023[18][19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League State League Cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Santos 2007 Série A 15 1 4[b] 2 — 2[c] 0 — 21 3
2008 1 1 4[b] 0 — 0 0 — 5 1
Total 16 2 8 2 — 2 0 — 26 4
Ponte Preta (loan) 2008 Série B 7 0 — — — — 7 0
Santo André 2009 Série A 3 1 5[b] 1 0 0 — — 8 2
Gloria Bistrița 2009–10 Liga I 17 10 — 0 0 — — 17 10
2010–11 15 8 — 3 2 — — 18 10
Total 32 18 — 3 2 — — 35 20
CSKA Sofia 2011–12 A Group 24 16 — 2 1 0 0 0 0 26 17
Metalurh Donetsk 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 23 11 — 0 0 4[d] 2 — 27 13
2013–14 27 19 — 1 0 2[d] 0 — 30 19
2014–15 13 5 — 0 0 — — 13 5
Total 63 35 — 1 0 6 2 — 70 37
Dynamo Kyiv 2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League 20 7 — 3 1 7[e] 1 1[f] 0 31 9
2016–17 16 10 — 1 2 6[e] 1 1[f] 0 24 13
2017–18 18 5 — 1 0 11[d] 7 0 0 30 12
Total 54 22 — 5 3 24 9 2 0 85 34
Tianjin Quanjian (loan) 2017 Chinese Super League 3 0 — 1 2 — — 4 2
Shakhtar Donetsk 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League 27 19 — 3 3 8[g] 4 1[f] 0 39 26
2019–20 27 19 — 1 0 12[h] 6 1[f] 0 41 25
2020–21 17 6 — 0 0 7[i] 2 1[f] 1 25 9
2021–22 1 1 — 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Total 72 45 — 4 3 27 12 3 1 106 61
Corinthians 2022 Série A 9 0 2[b] 0 2 1 4[c] 0 — 17 1
2023 0 0 3[b] 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
Total 9 0 5 0 2 1 4 0 — 20 1
Career total 279 140 18 3 18 12 63 23 5 1 386 179
  1. ^ Includes Copa do Brasil, Cupa României, Bulgarian Cup, Ukrainian Cup, Chinese FA Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in Campeonato Paulista
  3. ^ a b Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
  4. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in Ukrainian Super Cup
  7. ^ Six appearances and three goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ Six appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and four goals in UEFA Europa League
  9. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League

International

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As of match played 31 March 2021[20]
Ukraine
Year Apps Goals
2019 5 0
2020 3 0
2021 3 1
Total 11 1

International goals

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Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Moraes goal.[20]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 28 March 2021 Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine  Finland 1–0 1–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

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Club

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Santos

CSKA Sofia

Dynamo Kyiv

Shakhtar Donetsk

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Moraes Junior - FC Dynamo Kyiv. Official club website". www.fcdynamo.kiev.ua.
  2. ^ a b (in Ukrainian) Forward Shakhtar Morais received Ukrainian citizenship, UNIAN (18 March 2019)
  3. ^ a b "Júnior Moraes: "O să-l fac uitat pe Bogdan Stancu!"". adevarul.ro. Adevarul Holding. 23 January 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. ^ League I (2010-11), Players section. ro.soccerway.com
  5. ^ LICENȚIERE: 13 CLUBURI DIN LIGA I AU PRIMIT LICENȚA PENTRU SEZONUL 2011–2012 Archived 3 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
  6. ^ "Acum este oficial, Junior Moraes va juca la Metalurg Doneţk". gsp.ro. Gazeta Sporturilor. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Bulgaria - A PFG Top goalscorers". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Металлург" (Донецк) - "Заря" (Луганск) 1:2 (1:1). uafootball.net.ua
  9. ^ Metalurh, Skonto excluded; Petrolul cleared. www.uefa.com. 4 April 2014
  10. ^ (in Ukrainian) "Зоря, Волинь і Металург Д позбавлені турнірних очок" [Zorya, Volyn, and Metalurh D were stripped of tournament points]. Premier League of Ukraine. UA-Football. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Moraes transfer". shakhtar.com. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Shakhtar and Moraes: contract extension". shakhtar.com/. FC Shakhtar Donetsk. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Júnior Moraes é o novo reforço do Corinthians". corinthians.com.br (in Portuguese). Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  14. ^ "The football Federation of Ukraine decided to strengthen the Brazilian national team". latestnewsresource.com. Latest News Resource. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Мораес: был бы рад играть за сборную Украины" [Moraes: I would be happy to play for the Ukrainian team]. sportarena.com. Sport Arena. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  16. ^ Moraes filed documents to receive Ukrainian citizenship — source (Мораес подал документы для получения украинского гражданства – источник). UA-Football. 5 March 2019
  17. ^ "Ucrânia pode ter defrontado Portugal com jogador irregular". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  18. ^ Júnior Moraes at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  19. ^ Júnior Moraes at Soccerway
  20. ^ a b "Júnior Moraes". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
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