Júnior Santos is the man of the moment. The forward was key during the path that Botafogo had to travel in the early stages of the Copa Libertadores to get into the group stage after seven years of absence.
The attacker scored three goals overall against Bragantino and five against Bolivia’s Aurora in the two keys that Fogão had to overcome. With eight conquests in total, he is the top solo scorer in the history of Botafogo in the Libertadores.
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In the first leg against the São Paulo team he demonstrated his technical ability with two great goals. In the first he received only from the wing, he feinted at his marks, he got into the area and among five opponents he shot the goalkeeper. In the second, he stood with his back to the goal and with the ball at mid-height, without letting it fall, he made a half turn and hit a volley with his left foot that ended up in the net.
Born 29 years ago in Conceição do Jacuípe, in the state of Bahia, he made his debut in the second division of the Paulista Championship with the Osvaldo Cruz team. At the end of 2018 came his first big professional leap when he signed for Fortaleza, from Brazil’s top division.
After a good semester he tried his luck in Japanese soccer. He played for Kashiwa Reysol, a team with which he achieved promotion, although without much continuity, and then was transferred on loan to Yokohama Marinos, where he showed a great level.
🔥🇧🇷 ¡El goleador de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores!
🖤🤍 Júnior Santos marcó ocho goles en cuatro partidos en este 2024 y estará presente en la Fase de Grupos. #GloriaEterna pic.twitter.com/sDPPHV4Gqu
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) March 14, 2024
His last experience in Japan was at the Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and then he returned to his homeland. He was first loaned to Botafogo, then returned to Fortaleza and finally again to the Rio team, this time in a permanent operation.
He knew how to take advantage of his opportunity in Fogão, at a time when he could regret the absence of Luiz Henrique, this season’s star signing and in the final phase of getting ready for the injury to his left calf.
Júnior Santos showed that he has everything to be a star forward. He has good height (1.88 meters), physical strength, speed and technical ability.
