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Sports Talk: Bright season ahead for Boro?

By Mark Davies
BBC News Online and avid Boro fan

The sight of Juninho sobbing his heart out as he lay on the Elland Road pitch after Middlesbrough's relegation from the Premiership in 1997 is one which will live long in the memory for Boro fans.

While some of our other highly-paid overseas stars of the time seemed only mildly distraught at the setback, legend has it that the young Brazilian was so distressed he was carried from the pitch into the shower and back on to the team bus.

Boro's Juninho swoop

A week later, he was handling the heartbreak of defeat in the FA Cup final in similar fashion and was soon contemplating a move away from the Riverside.

While that might have seemed like treachery to the outsider, most Middlesbrough fans simply wished him well.

Such was Juninho's commitment to the club and the fans' devotion to the player, that most supporters just wanted the best for him.

And they knew that First Division football would not help him get into Brazil's squad for the 1998 World Cup.

Middlesbrough got the best out of Juninho. His performances for the club in that first spell on Teesside, in a struggling, bickering team, were awesome.

A goal against Sheffield Wednesday, after a sudden explosive dribble from the touchline, stands out for me.

Juninho has had two previous spells at Boro
Juninho was distraught after Boro's 1997 relegation
And if his commitment on the pitch was never questioned, nor was he the type to disappear off to Brazil on unauthorised trips or give endless interviews criticising the club.

In difficult days - impending relegation, tension among the squad and defeat in two cup finals - Juninho was the most shimmering of silver linings.

So when he left for Atletico Madrid, most supporters understood and many headed off to the Boro club shop to buy Madrid shirts with his name on the back.

And when we heard that he'd broken his ankle just months before the 1998 World Cup, we were devastated for him.

He returned to Teesside two years ago amid much delight, but there was always a suspicion then that he wasn't the player he had been during his first period at Middlesbrough.

The surges through midfield just weren't quite as effective, the speed wasn't there, the smile was not so bright.

Juninho then went back to his roots - still on loan from Atletico - to play for Vasco da Gama and then Flamengo in Brazil.

Juninho's taste for Teesside

The reports were promising. Soon he was back in the Brazil national squad. Then a few days ago he was holding the World Cup after a brief appearance in the final itself.

If Ronaldo's amazing story hit the headlines, in Middlesbrough there will have been great pleasure at Juninho's renaissance.

That he is returning - back on top form and a World Cup winner - is an enticing prospect.

On his website recently, Juninho said of Middlesbrough: "I adored the club and the way I was treated." The feeling is mutual.


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