Roque Junior: Jose Victor (Roque Junior)

2003-2004 (Player Details)

Centre Back

Born: Santa Rita do Sapucai, Brazil: 31-08-1976

Debut v Leicester City (a): 15-09-2003

6’1” 11st 8lb (2004)

Roque Junior started playing football in his native Brazil in 1994 with Sao Jose, scoring one goal in forty-seven games before being signed by Palmeiros in 1995. With them he won the Sao Paulo State Championship in 1996, The Brazilian Cup and the Mercosur Cup in 1998, The Libertadores Cup in 1999 and the Rio-Sao Paulo Tournament in 2000. After scoring twice in sixty-five games for Palmeiras he joined AC Milan in August 2000. By this time a regular for Brazil, he was part of the World Cup winning team in 2002. It was at Milan that he also had his greatest success at club level being a member of the team that won the ECL in 2003. However, his time at the San Siro was plagued by injuries and he never was able to hold a regular place in the team for long. He had made forty four appearances without scoring for Milan, when he joined Leeds United on loan in September 2003. There was a high expectation that the dual World Cup/European Cup winner would be the player to plug the gap in the Leeds defence after Rio Ferdinand and Jonathan Woodgate had been sold and Dominic Matteo was needed in midfield. In that respect he was a sad disappointment when, straight off the aeroplane, he and the Leeds defence were put to the sword by relegation certainties Leicester City, losing 4-0. In fairness to Roque he was thrown in the deep end and was surrounded by the worst Leeds defence in many years, comprised of players, who like Roque were on loan and had little feeling for the club or the stomach for their fight. Things did not improve in his second game as he was sent-off in his home debut against Birmingham City in a 2-0 defeat, as he accumulated yellow cards at a prodigious rate. His remaining appearances in a Leeds shirt were a 2-2 Carling Cup draw at home to Swindon Town, a 4-0 EPL defeat at Everton, but he did show what he was capable of in a League Cup fixture against a depleted Manchester United when he scored twice as Leeds went down 3-2, after extra-time, a 4-1 loss at home to Arsenal and, finally, a 6-1 drubbing at Portsmouth. He couldn’t come to grips with the EPL and found himself booked four times. Mercifully for Roque and Leeds he picked up an Achilles injury while playing for Brazil and it was sufficiently severe for Leeds to be able to terminate the loan. So, in late January 2004 he returned to Italy and was loaned to newly promoted AC Siena, where he made five appearances before his loan term there elapsed. In July 2004 he joined Bayer Laverkusen, but while he showed patches of good form, injuries again limited his appearances, making only thirty-five in a three year stay before moving to another Bundesliga club MSV Duisberg. He made just four appearances there and joined Qatar league side Al Rayyan in April 2008. He left Al-Rayyan in september 2008 and returned to his first club Palmeiras in Brazil until December 2008 when he left after playing thirty-five games. He has been linked with Australian A-League club Sydney FC for their upcoming 09/10 campaign, but played in the Montenegro Third Division with OFK Igalo, where he scored once in three games. On 12th January 2010 he returned to Brazil and signed for Ituano in Sao Paulo. His lack of matches caused him to be omitted from the Brazilian 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads and his present international record of two goals in forty-eight appearances, and a further two that were not officially recognised, is unlikely to be improved upon. In late September he joined the coaching staff of XV de Piracicaba in Sao Paulo Brazil.