Júnior Caiçara

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Souza and the second or paternal family name is Paula.

Uilson de Souza Paula Júnior (born 27 April 1989), commonly known as Júnior Caiçara, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a right-back for Santo André.

Júnior Caiçara

Caiçara with Ludogorets Razgrad in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Uilson de Souza Paula Júnior
Date of birth	(1989-04-27) 27 April 1989 (age 36)
Place of birth	Santos, Brazil
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Right-back
Team information
Current team	Santo André
Youth career
2005–2007	São Vicente
2007–2008	Santo André
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2012	Santo André	1	(0)
2009	→ CSA (loan)	6	(0)
2010	→ América-SP (loan)	4	(0)
2010–2012	→ Gil Vicente (loan)	56	(1)
2012–2015	Ludogorets Razgrad	83	(0)
2015–2017	Schalke 04	26	(0)
2017–2023	İstanbul Başakşehir	158	(2)
2023	Santos	5	(0)
2024–	Santo André	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:10, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

Career

Santo André and loans

Caiçara's first professional club is Santo André. In 2009, after making his senior debut with their B-team in the previous year's Copa Paulista,^[1] he was loaned out to Brazilian team CSA.^[2]

Back to Santo André in May 2009,^[3] Júnior Caiçara made his Série A debut on 16 May, starting and being sent off in a 4–2 away win over Coritiba.^[4] In 2010, he was sent on loan to América-SP, where he featured in four Campeonato Paulista Série A2 matches before being released on 10 February.^[5]

In June 2010, Caiçara goes to Portugal team Gil Vicente again on loan from Santo André.^[6] He made his debut on 29 August against Trofense in the second Portugal league. He helped his team to gain promotion in the Primeira Liga and played with the team in their return in Primeira Liga.

Ludogorets Razgrad

After playing two seasons for Gil Vicente in Portugal, Júnior Caiçara joined Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad on 5 June 2012.^[7] He signed a three-year contract and was given the number 80 jersey.

On 11 July, Caiçara marked his debut for Ludogorets with a goal and first trophy. He opened the scoring in the 2012 Bulgarian Supercup against Lokomotiv Plovdiv, the match ended 3–1 to Ludogorets.^[8] On 18 July, he made his European debut against Dinamo Zagreb in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. Then he made his Bulgarian A Group debut, playing full 90 minutes in a 3–0 away win over Cherno More Varna on 11 August. Caiçara quickly established himself as Ludogorets's first choice right-back, making 28 league appearances during his debut campaign in Bulgaria. He collected his first A group title winner's medal at the end of the 2012–13 season.

On 21 August 2013, Caiçara was sent off against Basel in a 4–2 home defeat in the play-off round of the Champions League, his first red card in a Ludogorets shirt.^[9]

On 12 December 2014, Ludogorets announced that Caiçara had extended his contract with a new two-year deal that will keep him at the club until 2017.^[10]

Schalke 04

On 25 June 2015, Caiçara signed with German club Schalke 04 on a three-year deal for a fee of €4.5 million.^[11] He made his Bundesliga debut in a 1–1 draw with Darmstadt 98.

İstanbul Başakşehir

On 16 January 2017, Caiçara signed with Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. on a 3.5-year deal for an undisclosed fee.^[12] Three days later he made his debut for the team in the Turkish Cup coming as a substitute in the 61 minute in a match against Yeni Amasyaspor.^[13] On 22 January, he completed his debut for the team coming as a substitute again in a match against Fenerbahçe in the Süper Lig.^[14]

On 19 February 2023, Caiçara terminated his contract with the club.^[15]

Santos

On 21 August 2023, Caiçara returned to his home country after signing a contract with Santos in the top tier until the end of the year.^[16]

Santo André return

On 3 January 2024, Caiçara returned to Santo André for the season.^[17]

International career

Caicara is eligible for both Brazil and Bulgaria since on 1 July 2014 he got a Bulgarian passport and became able to play for Bulgaria from 2017. He said that he would be happy to represent Bulgaria on the international level.^[18] On 25 February 2017, he mentioned again that he would represent Bulgaria if he got an invite since the old manager, Ivaylo Petev, wanted him, and he is waiting for a call from Petar Hubchev.^[19]

Career statistics

As of 14 November 2023^[20]

Club performance			League		State League[a]		Cup[b]		League Cup[c]		Continental[d]		Other[e]		Total
Club	Season	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Santo André	2008	Série B	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		10	0	10	0
	2009	Série A	1	0	—		0	0	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		10	0	11	0
CSA (loan)	2009[21]	Série D	0	0	6	0	2	0	—		—		—		8	0
América-SP (loan)	2010	Paulista A2	—		4	0	—		—		—		—		4	0
Gil Vicente (loan)	2010–11	Segunda Liga	28	1	—		1	0	6	1	—		—		35	2
	2011–12	Primeira Liga	28	0	—		1	0	6	1	—		—		35	1
	Total		56	1	—		2	0	12	2	—		—		70	3
Ludogorets Razgrad	2012–13	A Group	28	0	—		0	0	—		2	0	1	1	31	1
	2013–14		29	0	—		8	0	—		15	0	1	0	53	0
	2014–15		26	0	—		6	0	—		11	0	1	0	44	0
	Total		83	0	—		14	0	—		28	0	3	1	128	1
Schalke 04	2015–16	Bundesliga	23	0	—		2	0	—		7	0	—		32	0
	2016–17		3	0	—		2	0	—		4	1	—		9	1
	Total		26	0	—		4	0	—		11	1	0	0	41	1
İstanbul Başakşehir	2016–17	Süper Lig	14	0	—		4	0	—		0	0	—		18	0
	2017–18		31	0	—		1	0	—		10	0	—		42	0
	2018–19		33	0	—		2	0	—		2	0	—		37	0
	2019–20		33	0	—		0	0	—		11	0	—		44	0
	2020–21		8	0	—		0	0	—		1	0	—		9	0
	2021–22		27	2	—		1	0	—		0	0	—		28	2
	2022–23		10	0	—		0	0	—		9	0	—		19	2
	Total		156	2	—		8	0	—		33	0	0	0	197	2
Santos	2023	Série A	5	0	—		—		—		—		—		5	0
Santo André	2024	Série D	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		—		0	0
Career total			327	3	10	0	30	0	12	2	72	1	13	1	464	7

1. Includes Campeonato Alagoano and Campeonato Paulista Série A2
2. Includes Copa do Brasil, Taça de Portugal, DFB-Pokal, Bulgarian Cup and Turkish Cup
3. Includes Taça da Liga
4. Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
5. Includes Copa Paulista and Bulgarian Supercup

Honours

Club

Gil Vicente

• Liga de Honra: 2010–11
• Taça da Liga Runner-up: 2011–12

Ludogorets Razgrad

• Bulgarian A Group: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
• Bulgarian Cup: 2013–14
• Bulgarian Supercup: 2012

İstanbul Başakşehir

• Süper Lig: 2019–20^[22]