João Victor (footballer, born 1988)

João Victor de Albuquerque Bruno (born 7 November 1988), known as João Victor, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently assistant coach at League1 Ontario club Simcoe County Rovers.

João Victor

João Victor playing for Mallorca in 2011
Personal information
Full name	João Victor de Albuquerque Bruno[1]
Date of birth	(1988-11-07) 7 November 1988 (age 36)[1]
Place of birth	Olinda, Brazil
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Simcoe County Rovers (assistant)
Youth career
2004–2006	Náutico
2007	São Caetano
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	Náutico	18	(2)
2007–2008	São Caetano	1	(0)
2008	Treze
2009	Mogi Mirim	0	(0)
2009–2010	Bunyodkor	40	(3)
2010–2015	Mallorca	86	(1)
2015–2019	Anorthosis	121	(18)
2019–2020	Umm Salal	11	(0)
2020	OFI	11	(0)
2020–2024	Hyderabad	71	(12)
Total		359	(36)
Managerial career
2025–	Simcoe County Rovers (assistant)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Early career

Born in Olinda, Pernambuco, João Victor played in his country with Clube Náutico Capibaribe, Associação Desportiva São Caetano and Treze Futebol Clube, helping the first club to promote to Série A in 2006. In 2009, he joined compatriot Luiz Felipe Scolari at Uzbekistan's FC Bunyodkor.^[2]

Mallorca

On 26 August 2010, both João Victor and fellow Brazilian Ratinho – his former teammate at Bunyodkor – signed a five-year deal with RCD Mallorca in Spain, following a successful trial.^[3] The former made his La Liga debut on 26 September in a 2–0 home win against Real Sociedad,^[4] and finished his first season with 32 games (21 starts) as the Balearic Islands side narrowly avoided relegation.^[5]

On 7 October 2012, after just 15 minutes of an eventual 1–2 home loss to Granada CF, João Victor ruptured the cruciate ligament on his right knee, being sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.^[6] He remained out of action until July 2014,^[7] and renewed his contract at the Iberostar Estadi for two further years on 21 August.^[8]

Later years

João Victor left for Cyprus in the summer of 2015, joining Anorthosis Famagusta FC.^[9] He rarely settled with any team or in any country after leaving four seasons later, representing in quick succession Umm Salal SC, OFI Crete F.C. and Hyderabad FC.^[10]

With João Victor acting as captain,^[11] Hyderabad won the 2021–22 edition of the Indian Super League.^[12] He contributed five goals to the feat.^[13]

On 9 April 2023, João Victor scored from a penalty in the 2–1 victory over Aizawl FC in the group stage of the Super Cup.^[14][15] He retired at the end of 2023–24, aged 35.

Coaching career

In January 2025, João Victor was named assistant coach at Simcoe County Rovers FC in Canada's League1 Ontario.^[16]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bunyodkor	2009[17]	Uzbekistan Super League	29	3	5[a]	0	7[b]	0	—		41	3
	2010[17]		11	0	5[a]	1	6[b]	0	—		22	1
	Bunyodkor total		40	3	10	1	13	0			63	4
Mallorca	2010–11[17]	La Liga	32	0	4[c]	0	—		—		36	0
	2011–12[17]		11	0	5[c]	0	—		—		16	0
	2012–13[17]		7	0	0	0	—		—		7	0
	2013–14[17]	Segunda División	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2014–15[17]		36	1	1[c]	0	—		—		37	1
	Mallorca total		86	1	10	0	—				96	1
Anorthosis	2015–16[17]	Cypriot First Division	26	3	2[d]	0	—		—		28	3
	2016–17[17]		33	4	6[d]	0	—		—		39	4
	2017–18[17]		34	7	4[d]	0	—		—		38	7
	2018–19[17]		28	4	2[d]	1	2[e]	0	—		32	5
	Anorthosis total		121	18	14	1	2	0			137	19
Umm Salal	2019–20[17]	Qatar Stars League	11	0	5[f]	0	—		—		16	0
OFI	2019–20[17]	Super League Greece	11	0	0	0	—		—		11	0
Hyderabad	2020–21[17]	Indian Super League	17	3	—		—		—		17	3
	2021–22[17]		21	5	—		—		—		21	5
	2022–23[17]		14	2	3[g]	1	1[h]	0	6[i]	1	24	4
	2023–24[17]		19	2	0	0	—		—		19	2
	Hyderabad total		71	12	3	1	1	0	6	1	81	13
Career total			340	34	42	3	16	0	6	1	404	38

1. Appearances in Uzbekistan Cup
2. Appearances in AFC Champions League
3. Appearances in Copa del Rey
4. Appearances in Cypriot Cup
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in Qatari Stars Cup
7. Appearances in Super Cup
8. Appearance in AFC Cup playoffs
9. Appearances in Durand Cup

Honours

Bunyodkor

• Uzbekistan Super League: 2009,^[17] 2010^[18]
• Uzbekistan Cup: 2010

Hyderabad

• Indian Super League: 2021–22^[19]