Jonatas Figueira Fernandes (born 16 January 1992), known simply as Jô or Jô Fernandes, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker.
Jô started his career with Corinthians, progressing through their youth system. He was the team's top scorer in the 2011 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior. Although he was considered one of the club's top prospects, Jô had a series of disciplinary problems in his early career, which caused him to quit professional football in 2012. He had a short stint playing futsal in 2013, and in 2015, Jô made his return to association football. He was the 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D top scorer and led his hometown club São Caetano to the quarterfinals. Following a number of successive knee injuries which kept him out of the 2017 season, he retired in February 2018.
Early life
Jô was born in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, to Marisa Figueira and Mário Fernandes. He regularly played football in the streets of the Olímpico neighbourhood, and during his childhood, he lived close to Estádio Anacleto Campanella. Jô was a fan of his hometown club, and used to watch over cars in order to get money to buy São Caetano tickets.
He began playing futsal at SERC Santa Maria. At age six, he joined Corinthians' youth futsal teams. After scoring eight goals in a futsal match, at the request of youth coach Zé Augusto, Jô made the switch to association football, joining Corinthians' under-17 team. In 2008, at the age of 16, he signed his first professional contract with Timão.
Club career
Corinthians
Jô scored five goals in the 2009 U-17 Campeonato Paulista, and in September 2009, he extended his contract with Corinthians until 30 October 2011. He was also the club's top scorer in the 2010 U-20 Campeonato Paulista. Jô was part of the squad that played in the 2011 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior. He led the team in scoring with four goals in four matches during the tournament but couldn't help Timão get past the round of 32. Nevertheless, his play impressed first-team manager Tite, who called him up to the senior squad on 18 January 2011, two days after the U-20 side was eliminated from Copa São Paulo, losing to Desportivo Brasil. He was expected to be the future replacement of star striker Ronaldo.While in the youth ranks of Corinthians, Jô was already infamous for his disciplinary problems. He missed several appointments without giving any explanation and regularly went out clubbing and drinking. He also had a strained relationship with club doctor Joaquim Grava, as well as with club director Afonso Harmonia, who said of Jô: "He's a 19-year-old boy with a BMW X1. If he would ride a bus to practice [...] The problem with him is the excess of vodka."
Before a Campeonato Paulista match against São Bernardo. After Grava ruled him out of the game due to a meniscus injury on his right knee, Jô insisted on playing and had a quarrel with the club doctor. After the argument, Jô was absent from the team's training sessions for a few days and asked to be released by the club.
Grêmio
On 8 June 2011, Jô signed a four-year deal with Grêmio, the same club that his older brother Mário Fernandes was playing for. Grêmio director César Cidade Dias, aware of Jô's disciplinary problems and injury history, said of him: "We know all about Jô's past, but we also know that he's a good kid and he's very talented. Here, it's a new life, we'll try and I'm sure we'll make an exceptional player out of him." He was expected to play in the club's under-20 team.
However, Jô failed to make a single appearance for the Tricolor Gaúcho due to an ankle injury, and returned to Corinthians two months later.
São Caetano
On 27 February 2012, Jô signed with Série B side São Caetano. His professional debut was postponed due to another knee injury. Jô made his debut for his hometown club on 1 September 2012, coming off the bench in the 64th minute, replacing Vandinho in a 1–0 home win against Avaí for the Série B. On 24 November 2012, he came off the bench in the 46th minute during a 2–1 win over Guarani at Brinco de Ouro.
For the 2013 season, Jô gave up on playing football, instead choosing to join São Caetano's futsal team, while still under contract with Azulão. On 25 September 2014, Jô was loaned to Portuguesa for one year. He did not play in a single match for the club due to injuries. He also had a trial with Russian club CSKA Moscow in 2014, but did not sign a contract due to his long-term absence from professional football.