Junior Fernandes

Antenor Junior Fernandes da Silva Vitoria (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɟʝunjoɾ feɾˈnandes]; born 10 April 1988), known as Junior Fernandes, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish club Adanaspor.

For the Dominican baseball player, see Junior Fernández.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernandes da Silva and the second or maternal family name is Vitoria.
Junior Fernandes
Fernandes with Dinamo Zagreb in 2016
Personal information
Full name Antenor Junior Fernandes 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]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Adanaspor
Youth career
1995–2006 Cobreloa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Cobreloa 51 (2)
2007 → Municipal 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)
2017–2020 Alanyaspor 80 (26)
2020–2021 Ittihad Kalba 13 (3)
2021 İstanbul Başakşehir 9 (1)
2021–2022 Universidad de Chile 34 (4)
2023 Manisa 14 (3)
2023– Adanaspor 0 (0)
International career‡
2011– Chile 20 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 October 2022

Club career

Cobreloa

The son of Brazilian parents, Fernandes 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, Fernandes 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 Fernandes 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] Fernandes 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, Fernandes 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 receive 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] Fernandes 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, Junior Fernandes 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 Fernandes 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, Fernandes 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 for the 2017–18 season and scored twice against defending league champion Rijeka. However, as Dinamo failed to qualify into Europa League, losing to Skënderbeu Korçë in the play-off round, he moved back to Alanyaspor on a permanent transfer.

Ittihad Kalba

On 19 August 2020, Fernandes joined Ittihad Kalba of the UAE Pro League.[8]

İstanbul Başakşehir

On 23 January 2021, Fernandes agreed to a return to Turkey and joined İstanbul Başakşehir on a free transfer.[9]

Manisa FK

On 16 January 2023, Fernandes agreed to a return to Turkey and joined Manisa in the TFF First League on a free transfer.[10]

International career

Fernandes was called up 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.[11] He made the final squad for the 2019 Copa América, his first major tournament.

Honours

Club

Magallanes

Universidad de Chile

Dinamo Zagreb

International

Chile

References
  1. "Dinamo Zagreb Profile". Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  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. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  7. "Junior Fernandes ostaje u Dinamu!". gnkdinamo.hr. 23 April 2014..html
  8. "The Kalba Football Club Company completes its contract with the Chilean international wing, Junior Fernandez".
  9. "Hoş geldin Junior Fernandes" [Welcome Junior Fernandes] (in Turkish). İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  10. @manisafk (16 January 2023). "⚫⚪ 𝓙𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓻 𝓕𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓼 ⚪⚫" (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 January 2023 – via Instagram.
  11. "Sampaoli confirms final Chile squad for Copa América". goal.com. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
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