Lethal from set-pieces and with a fine eye for a pass, the midfielder made an indelible mark at both Rio de Janeiro outfit Vasco da Gama, whom he helped to their first and so far only Copa Libertadores triumph in 1998, and Ligue 1 giants Lyon, where he was a key figure in all seven of Les Gones\u2019 league title successes.<\/p>\n
His intelligence and strong character have made him a leader and captain wherever he has been, from his early days at Sport Recife in his home state of Pernambuco through to his current employers: Qatari heavyweights Al Gharrafa. With the possibility of once again pulling on a Vasco shirt still on the cards, and having stated his ambition to one day take on an off-the-field role at OL, the 36-year-old\u2019s time at the top of the game is clearly far from over. A few days after the end of the Qatari league season, the player capped 52 times by Brazil and who helped A Sele\u00e7\u00e3o lift the 2005 edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup gave a full and frank interview to FIFA.com.<\/p>\n
FIFA.com: Juninho, it\u2019s two years now since you arrived in Qatar. How have you settled in?
Juninho Pernambucano: I\u2019ve got a very nice life here. After spending eight years in France, I didn\u2019t find it particularly difficult to adapt. It\u2019s true that there are cultural differences, but I went through the same thing when I left Brazil for France. I\u2019m the one who\u2019s come here, so it\u2019s down to me to put in the effort and adapt as quickly as possible. And because the standard of living here in Doha is so good, it makes it easier to fit in. In fact, I\u2019ve experienced more changes at a professional level. Qatari football has improved a great deal in terms of quality of play, but in organisational terms there\u2019s a huge difference compared to Europe. Over there, right from the start of the championship you know exactly how the season is going to pan out in detail, whereas here there\u2019s still a lot of delay when it comes to organising the working week or away trips. That\u2019s the biggest change. But, everything\u2019s going very well so far. It\u2019s a lovely adventure.<\/p>\n
In your first season you won the league title, the Qatar Crown Prince Cup and the Qatari Stars Cup. Did you expect such a successful start?
I love competing and I love winning! I\u2019ve been like that since I was very small. I didn\u2019t sign for Al Gharrafa so I could gently wind down my career or to treat it like a holiday. I wanted to keep playing well, while I knew there\u2019d be fewer matches over the course of the season and so it would be easier to handle. Of course I didn\u2019t expect so much success so quickly, but I knew that I was joining a good team who\u2019d won the previous two league titles. We won a treble last term, and we also reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League. It was the best season in the club\u2019s history. It means just as much to me as everything I won with Lyon and in Brazil. Unfortunately this season we weren\u2019t able to defend our title and we had to settle for second place. But there are still the two cups left and we\u2019ll try to win at least one of them.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve played in the Copa Libertadores, the UEFA Champions League and its AFC equivalent. Do these three competitions stir the same level of passion among players and supporters?
Every team wherever you go has the same goal: taking part in the competition which features the best sides. Every team wants to be part of a competition like that. In Brazil, it\u2019s almost more difficult to clinch one of the qualifying places for the Libertadores than it is to actually play in it. The European Champions League is by far the best club competition in the world, all it\u2019s missing are Brazilian teams! And in Asia, I\u2019ve discovered a tournament that\u2019s treated with the same level of passion and which is of a very high standard. Unfortunately I wasn\u2019t able to win the European title with Lyon, and I was also knocked out of last year\u2019s Asian competition with Al Gharrafa. But I was fortunate enough to lift the Libertadores with Vasco da Gama. It was magnificent. These are the kind of great competitions which every player dreams about.<\/p>\n
You were voted the league\u2019s best player last season, but no description of your style of play would be complete without mention of your set-piece ability. Is that something you continue to work on, even at the age of 36?
Perhaps it\u2019s a gift. It\u2019s true I\u2019ve got the ability to strike a ball well, but more than anything it\u2019s something I\u2019ve really worked on. It\u2019s only through repetition that we improve. My success is down to a mixture of hard work, determination and the pleasure I get from training. Over the course of my entire career, I\u2019ve always put a lot of emphasis on doing dead-ball work in training. It\u2019s become the strongest part of my game. I still get the same enjoyment from working hard as I always did, and that\u2019s something I try to pass on to my younger team-mates. The best example I can give them is that, even now at the age of 36, I\u2019m still getting offers to play at the highest level! Putting your heart into everything you do, that\u2019s the key.<\/p>\n
What was your view on the decision to award Qatar the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup\u2122?
I wasn\u2019t surprised by the decision, because Qatar put in a lot of effort and presented a very nice project. It\u2019s the first Gulf nation chosen by FIFA to host the World Cup, which will open doors for all the others. Every country in the world has the right to bid to welcome a World Cup. It\u2019ll be a very good competition, which will give supporters the chance to see several games because everything will be quite close together. Of course, the heat will be a very important factor, but Qatar has all the ingredients for putting on one of the best World Cups of all time.<\/p>\n
Lyon have not won Ligue 1 since you left, so what do you think they need to get back on the trophy trail? Would you agree that they are yet to find someone to adequately fill the gap you left both on and off the pitch?
There\u2019ll never be just one team that always wins everything. We pulled off an exceptional run by winning seven league titles in a row. Winning is hard, and it\u2019s even harder to keep winning. But Lyon have kept a competitive side together, one which reached the semi-finals of the Champions League (in 2009\/10) – something that I was never able to do. In terms of me leaving the club, I genuinely think that nobody is irreplaceable, except perhaps the likes of Pele and Ronaldo when they hung up their boots, or Lionel Messi in the future. I\u2019m not irreplaceable and Lyon have already moved on since my exit. But I did manage to leave my own stamp on the club\u2019s history. Lyon will always have a place in my heart and my head and, inevitably, I\u2019d like to go back there one day to take up a role with them and use my experience to help the club.<\/p>\n
Do you think you may have left the club a year too soon?
Things have gone so well for me at Al Gharrafa that I\u2019ve got no right to regret anything. But of course, I left a bit too soon. I could have played on for two further seasons at Lyon, but it had a bit to do with how things are in France. I was a foreign player who\u2019d won a lot, and mentally I was quite tired of being the target of all the criticism when the team stopped winning, as well as hearing that the team simply revolved around me. I would have liked to stay but, more than anything else, I would have appreciated a bit more support from everybody involved. I can take criticism but that was starting to make life uncomfortable off the pitch. I didn\u2019t have a choice anymore so I decided to leave, but I think that I could have played on for another two seasons.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been a recent wave of Brazilian internationals heading home to play in the domestic league, while you\u2019ve been strongly linked with a return to Vasco. Is there any truth to the rumours?
The truth is that the day I left I promised that one day I\u2019d come back and play for Vasco again. And that\u2019s why their supporters are always asking me when I\u2019m coming back. I know that the doors are open to me over there. My contract\u2019s coming to an end with Al Gharrafa and I\u2019ve received an offer from Vasco. We\u2019re having discussions and there\u2019s a chance that I\u2019ll sign for them. Unfortunately, even if I were to sign now I wouldn\u2019t be registered in time for the start of the Brasileirao season. That\u2019d mean that I wouldn\u2019t be able to play until August, and then there\u2019d only be four months left. But I\u2019ll make a decision over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
Do you ever regret the fact your international career wasn\u2019t as glory-laden as your time at club level?
To be honest, I\u2019ve got no right to wish for anything in my career to have gone differently. I\u2019ve had a wonderful career thus far, I\u2019ve never had any injury problems, I\u2019ve played over 700 games and won more than 20 trophies. It\u2019s true I\u2019ve not tasted the same level of success with the national team, but even so I\u2019ve played at a World Cup and won a Confederations Cup. But you can\u2019t win everything in life. I prefer to look towards the future, I only look to the past to try and learn from it. The way I see it, I\u2019ve made history at one club in Brazil and another in France, which gives me real pleasure. Maybe that’s just the way my story was meant to go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n