João Virgínia

João Manuel Neves Virgínia (born 10 October 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP, on loan from Premier League club Everton.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Neves and the second or paternal family name is Virgínia.
João Virgínia
Personal information
Full name João Manuel Neves Virgínia[1]
Date of birth (1999-10-10) 10 October 1999
Place of birth Faro, Portugal
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Sporting CP
(on loan from Everton)
Number 31
Youth career
2011–2015 Benfica
2015–2018 Arsenal
2018–2019 Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Everton 1 (0)
2019–2020 → Reading (loan) 2 (0)
2021– → Sporting CP (loan) 0 (0)
National team‡
2015 Portugal U16 3 (0)
2015–2016 Portugal U17 3 (0)
2017 Portugal U18 3 (0)
2017–2018 Portugal U19 9 (0)
2017–2019 Portugal U20 9 (0)
2018–2021 Portugal U21 2 (0)
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up2021
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:38, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:31, 11 October 2018 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Faro on the Algarve, Virgínia began his youth career at S.L. Benfica. In August 2015, he agreed a transfer to Arsenal amidst interest from Manchester United, effective from his 16th birthday in October.[3] In August 2018, he signed a three-year deal at Everton.[4]

On 11 July 2019, Virgínia joined Reading on a season-long loan deal.[5] Everton recalled him early due to a lack of playing time, on 5 January 2020.[6]

Virgínia played his first professional game for Everton on 16 September 2020, in a 3–0 home win in the EFL Cup match against League Two side Salford City.[7] On 13 March 2021, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute for the injured Jordan Pickford in a 1–2 home defeat to Burnley.[8] Eight days later, he made his FA Cup debut, starting in a 0–2 quarter-final defeat to Manchester City at Goodison Park.[9]

On 25 August 2021, Virgínia returned to Lisbon, joining Sporting CP on a season-long loan.[10] Kept aside in the Primeira Liga by Antonio Adán, he made his debut on 15 October in the third round of the Taça de Portugal in a 4–0 win at C.F. Os Belenenses.[11] He made his European debut on 7 December in the final game of the UEFA Champions League group stage, a 4–2 loss at AFC Ajax that saw both teams through to the last 16.[12]

International career

Across all age groups, Virgínia earned 29 caps for Portugal at youth level, starting with a 1–0 win for the under-16s over the Netherlands in Vila Real de Santo António on 14 February 2015. On 12 November 2016, having just turned 17, he made his under-20 debut in a 1–1 friendly draw with Morocco in Rabat.[13]

Virgínia represented the under-19 team that won the 2018 UEFA European Championship in Finland, defeating Italy 4–3 in the final.[14] He also played in a group-stage elimination for the under-20 team in Poland at the 2019 FIFA World Cup.[15]

Honours

Sporting CP


Career statistics
As of 20 March 2021[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Everton U-23s 2018–19[18] – ––––––1[lower-alpha 1]010
Everton 2019–20 Premier League 000000—00
2020–21 Premier League 101010—30
Total 101010—30
Reading (loan) 2019–20 Championship 200010—30
Career total 3010201070
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Portugal" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. "João Virgínia". Premier League. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  3. Sanderson, Jamie (6 August 2015). "Joao Virginia 'arrives in England ahead of completing Arsenal transfer'". Metro. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  4. "Everton sign Joao Virginia from Arsenal on a three-year deal". Sky Sports. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  5. "João Virgínia signs for Royals on season-long loan". Reading F.C. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  6. "João Virgínia signs for Royals on season-long loan". Reading F.C. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  7. "Everton 3-0 Salford City: Keane, Sigurdsson and Kean score in Carabao Cup". BBC Sport. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  8. Poole, Harry (13 March 2021). "Everton 1-2 Burnley: Dwight McNeil hits stunning winner for visitors". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  9. Magowan, Alistair (20 March 2021). "Everton 1-2 Man City: Ilkay Gundogan & De Bruyne goals keep quadruple hopes alive". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  10. "João Virgínia joins Sporting CP on loan". Sporting CP. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  11. "João Virgínia: «Muito feliz e honrado pela minha estreia»" [João Virgínia: "I'm very happy and honoured by my debut"]. Record (in Portuguese). 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  12. Prata, Pedro (8 December 2021). "Bom aluno: João Virgínia tem passado nos testes e é garantia de futuro" [Good student: João Virgínia passes the tests and is a bet for the future]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  13. Lopes, João (12 November 2016). "Portugal empata no segundo jogo de preparação com Marrocos" [Portugal draw in second preparation game with Morocco]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  14. Moretto, Fabrizio (29 July 2019). "Italia Portogallo 3–4, lusitani campioni d'Europa Under 19. Decide Pedro Correia ai supplementari" [Italy Portugal 3–4, Lusitanians Under-19 champions of Europe. Pedro Correia decides it in extra time] (in Italian). Sky Sport. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  15. "COMENTÁRIO: Portugal empata com África do Sul e diz adeus ao Mundial de sub-20" [COMMENTARY: Portugal draw with South Africa and say goodbye to the Under-20 World Cup]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 31 May 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  16. Ribeiro, Patrick (29 January 2022). "Sporting defend their Taça da Liga title in second-half turnaround versus Benfica". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  17. João Virgínia at Soccerway. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  18. "Games played by João Virgínia in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
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