Juan Maldonado Jaimez Júnior, simply known as Juan, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He also holds an EU passport as a Spanish citizen.
He started his career with São Paulo before being signed by English side Arsenal in 2001. He only made two first-team appearances for Arsenal, his debut coming against Grimsby Town in the League Cup on November 27, 2001. His other appearance came when he started in the 5th Round of the FA Cup against Gillingham on February 16, 2002. Juan was due to play in Arsenal's Third Round League Cup tie against Sunderland but picked up a knee injury ahead of the game. He also scored in a pre-season friendly for Arsenal against Stevenage in 2002. On November 8, 2002 additional diagnosis confirmed an ACL knee injury. This injury essentially ended Juan's Arsenal career.
Juan moved to Flamengo in the beginning of 2006. Late in that year he scored one goal in the final of Brazilian Cup against Vasco da Gama and was named "man of the match". After being voted one of the best players in the Brazilian Série A 2007, Juan received the second place prize Bola de Prata award for best left back awarded by Placar, a prestigious Brazilian football magazine. Juan played well once again in the 2008 season, this time winning the Bola de Prata award as the best player in his position. On August 22, 2008 Juan received his first call up to Brazil national team to play against Chile and Bolivia in the qualifying round of the World Cup 2010. After this spell with the national team Juan was occasionally referred to as Juan Maldonado to avoid confusion with Juan, another former Flamengo player who had also been called up for Brazil around this time. On May 22, 2009 Juan received a 30-day ban for threatening Botafogo's Maicosuel in the 2009 Rio de Janeiro State League finals.
São Paulo
In December 2010, as his Flamengo contract was expiring, São Paulo announced interest in signing the player. Juan declared that a return to São Paulo, the club where he played as a youth player before joining Arsenal, would be "like moving home." Juan joined São Paulo at the start of 2011 season. After the finish of his loan for Santos, Juan, that was out of Ney Franco's plans, didn't back to club.
In May 2013, after the reorganisation made by president Juvenal Juvêncio and coach Ney Franco, which got rid of seven players, Juan was reintegrated to Tricolor. In the Juvêncio's words: "O rapaz chegou impecável e disposto a jogar". The next month, Juan made his début against Atlético Mineiro in the Brazilian League. Juan came on from the bench as a substitute for Thiago Carleto, who came off injured. According to Juan: "Estou muito feliz de poder defender o São Paulo novamente.". On June 5, 2013, Juan made his full début for São Paulo. The game finished 1-0 to Goiás, and the player was criticized by fans. According to Juan he did not understand the claims: "Quando o resultado não vem, sobra para alguém. Mais uma vez, sobrou para mim. Queria entender qual o problema da torcida comigo. Eu me esforço, luto. Sei que não estou 100%, que eu posso render mais, mas time grande é assim, tem pressão".
Vitória
On August 30, 2013, Juan was presented in Esporte Clube Vitória. He chose the side from Bahia because of Caio Júnior, with whom he worked at CR Flamengo, a period during which Juan made it into the Brazilian team. Ironically, with Júnior dismissed, Juan would work again with Ney Franco, the coach that, in the start of 2013, did not have Juan in his plans when both of them were at São Paulo FC. Juan scored his first goal on September 4, in the 2-1 loss against Flamengo. On October 5, 2013, in the 3-2 loss against São Paulo, Juan scored a goal against his former club and was heavily scolded by Tricolor fans. His goal was also criticized by Rogério Ceni, São Paulo's captain, who said Juan kicked the ball with both feet, which is prohibited in football.
Retirement
On 16 August 2019, 37-year old Juan announced his retirement from football.
Career statistics
according to combined sources on the Flamengo official website and Flaestatística.
