Júnior Alonso

Júnior Osmar Ignacio Alonso Mujica (born 9 February 1993)^[3] is a Paraguayan footballer who plays either as a centre back or a left back for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Atlético Mineiro and the Paraguay national team.

Júnior Alonso

Alonso with Paraguay in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Júnior Osmar Ignacio Alonso Mujica[1]
Date of birth	(1993-02-09) 9 February 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Asunción, Paraguay
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back Left-back
Team information
Current team	Atlético Mineiro
Number	8
Youth career
2011–2012	Cerro Porteño
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2016	Cerro Porteño	136	(11)
2017–2020	Lille	46	(2)
2018	→ Celta (loan)	9	(0)
2019–2020	→ Boca Juniors (loan)	21	(0)
2020–2021	Atlético Mineiro	69	(2)
2022–2024	Krasnodar	41	(1)
2022	→ Atlético Mineiro (loan)	32	(0)
2024–	Atlético Mineiro	6	(1)
International career‡
2013	Paraguay U-20	8	(2)
2013–	Paraguay	56	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 August 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 September 2024

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Alonso and the second or maternal family name is Mujica.

Club career

Lille

Alonso joined French club Lille in a permanent transfer in January 2017.^[4] He made his debut for the club on 18 February 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute in a win over SM Caen.^[5] He would go on to make 56 appearances for Lille in all competitions before leaving on loan in August 2018.^[4]

Celta (loan)

On 14 August 2018, Alonso was loaned to La Liga's Celta Vigo for one year with an option to make the deal permanent.^[6][4]

Boca Juniors (loan)

On 2 January 2019, he was loaned to Boca Juniors.^[7] On 2 May 2019, Alonso was an unused substitute as Boca defeated Rosario Central in the 2018 Supercopa Argentina on penalty-kicks after the match ended 0–0.^[8]

Atlético Mineiro

On 2 July 2020, Alonso joined Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro on a four-year deal for a €3 million fee.^[9]

Krasnodar

On 7 January 2022, Russian club Krasnodar announced that the terms of transfer has been agreed with Atlético Mineiro, and the terms of the 3.5-year contract has been agreed with Alonso.^[10] The contract was signed on 12 January 2022.^[11] On 3 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Krasnodar announced that his contract was suspended and he would not train with the team, but the contract was not terminated and remained valid.^[12]

Return to Atlético Mineiro (loan)

On 14 March 2022, Atlético Mineiro announced the return of Alonso on loan until the end of 2022.^[13]

Second return to Atlético Mineiro

On 10 July 2024, Alonso rejoined Atlético Mineiro on a two-and-a-half-year deal.^[14]

International career

Alonso is a full international for Paraguay, having made his senior debut for his country in 2013.^[4]

In a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on 23 March 2017, Alonso scored the winning goal, and his first for the national team, in a 2–1 defeat of Ecuador.^[15]

On 29 May 2019, Alonso was selected to the final 23-man roster for the 2019 Copa América in Brazil.^[16] He would go on to start in all four of Paraguay's matches, playing every single minute, as they lost in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out to hosts and eventual champions Brazil.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 August 2024.^[18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cerro Porteño	2013	Paraguayan Primera División	31	1	—		2[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		33	1
	2014	Paraguayan Primera División	30	2	—		12[lower-alpha 2]	0	—		42	2
	2015	Paraguayan Primera División	43	4	—		0	0	—		43	4
	2016	Paraguayan Primera División	32	4	—		18[lower-alpha 3]	1	—		50	5
	Total		136	11	—		32	1	—		168	12
Lille	2016–17	Ligue 1	12	0	2	0	—		—		14	0
	2017–18	Ligue 1	34	2	2	0	—		2[lower-alpha 4]	1	38	3
	Total		46	2	4	0	—		2	1	52	3
Celta (loan)	2018–19	La Liga	9	0	2	0	—		—		11	0
Boca Juniors (loan)	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	7	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 5]	0	5[lower-alpha 6]	0	16	0
	2019–20	Argentine Primera División	14	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 5]	0	1[lower-alpha 6]	0	17	0
	Total		21	0	2	0	4	0	6	0	33	0
Atlético Mineiro	2020	Série A	32	1	—		—		6[lower-alpha 7]	0	38	1
	2021	Série A	22	1	8	0	12[lower-alpha 5]	0	9[lower-alpha 7]	0	51	1
	Total		54	2	8	0	12	0	15	0	89	2
Krasnodar	2021–22	Russian Premier League	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	2022–23	Russian Premier League	12	1	7	0	—		—		19	1
	2023–24	Russian Premier League	29	0	6	0	—		—		35	0
	Total		41	1	13	0	—		—		54	1
Atlético Mineiro (loan)	2022	Série A	31	0	2	0	10[lower-alpha 5]	0	1[lower-alpha 7]	0	44	0
Atlético Mineiro	2024	Série A	6	1	3	0	2[lower-alpha 5]	0	—		11	1
Career total			344	17	34	0	60	1	24	1	462	19

1. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
2. Eight appearances in Copa Libertadores, four appearances in Copa Sudamericana
3. Eight appearances and one goal in Copa Libertadores, ten appearances in Copa Sudamericana
4. Appearances in Coupe de la Ligue
5. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
6. Appearance(s) in Copa de la Superliga
7. Appearance(s) in Campeonato Mineiro

International

As of 10 September 2024.^[19]

Paraguay
Year	Apps	Goals
2013	1	0
2014	5	0
2016	3	0
2017	7	1
2018	3	0
2019	9	0
2020	4	0
2021	12	1
2022	4	0
2023	4	0
2024	4	0
Total	56	2

Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	23 March 2017	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Ecuador	2–0	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	2 July 2021	Estádio Olímpico Pedro Ludovico, Goiânia, Brazil	Peru	2–2	3–3	2021 Copa América

Honours

Club

Cerro Porteño

• Paraguayan Primera División: 2013 Clausura, 2015 Apertura^[20]

Boca Juniors

• Argentine Primera División: 2019–20
• Supercopa Argentina: 2018^[8]

Atlético Mineiro

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2021
• Copa do Brasil: 2021
• Campeonato Mineiro: 2020, 2021, 2022

Individual

• Bola de Prata: 2020, 2021
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2021
• Best Centre-back in Brazil: 2021^[21]
• South American Team of the Year: 2021

References

1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 List of Players: Paraguay" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 23 June 2013. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
2. "El Plantel: Junior Alonso" [The Squad: Junior Alonso] (in Spanish). Boca Juniors. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
3. "Soccer | lib | Player Stats - Júnior Alonso - Boca Juniors - washingtonpost.com". stats.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
4. "Official: Lille central defender Junior Alonso joins Celta Vigo on loan". Get Football News. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
5. "El esperado debut" [The long-awaited debut] (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
6. "Junior Alonso ya es del Celta" (in Spanish). AS. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
7. "Transferts: Lille prête Junior Alonso à Boca Juniors". L'Équipe (in French). 2 January 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
8. "Alfaro: "Lo quiero compartir con Guillermo"" (in Spanish). Fox Sports. 2 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
9. "Atlético-MG anuncia contratação do zagueiro Junior Alonso, que pertencia ao Lille" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globoesporte. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
10. ""КРАСНОДАР" И "АТЛЕТИКО МИНЕЙРО" СОГЛАСОВАЛИ ТРАНСФЕР ХУНИОРА АЛОНСО" (in Russian). Krasnodar. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
11. "ХУНИОР АЛОНСО СТАЛ ИГРОКОМ "КРАСНОДАРА"" (in Russian). Krasnodar. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
12. ""КРАСНОДАР" ПРИОСТАНОВИЛ КОНТРАКТЫ С НЕСКОЛЬКИМИ ИГРОКАМИ" (Press release) (in Russian). FC Krasnodar. 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
13. "Tem novidade na área" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Clube Atlético Mineiro. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
14. "Junior Alonso está de volta ao Galo!" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Clube Atlético Mineiro. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
15. "Paraguay 2:1 Ecuador". Sky Sports. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
16. "La lista definitiva (23) de la Albirroja para la Copa América "Brasil 2019"". apf.org.py (in Spanish). APF. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
17. "Brazil survive penalty shootout to beat Paraguay". ESPN. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
18. Júnior Alonso at Soccerway
19. "Alonso, Júnior". National Football Teams. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
20. "Picante posteo de Junior Alonso tras el triunfo de Cerro ante Olimpia". ultimahora.com (in Spanish). 12 May 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
21. "Confira todos os ganhadores do Troféu Mesa Redonda 2021" [Check out all the winners of the 2021 Round Table Trophy]. Gazeta Esportiva (in Brazilian Portuguese). 19 December 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2024.

External links

• Júnior Alonso at National-Football-Teams.com
• Júnior Alonso at Soccerway
• Júnior Alonso at Fichajes.com (in Spanish)