Miranda

João Miranda de Souza Filho (born 7 September 1984), known as Miranda, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

This ended a streak of 25 games, stretching back to 1999, without a win against their city rivals.

Having begun his career at Coritiba, Miranda spent the 2005–06 season with Sochaux in France before returning to Brazil to play for São Paulo.

On 29 July 2005, Miranda signed a four-year deal with French side Sochaux.

Miranda made twenty appearances for Sochaux as the club finished mid-table but he was not able to settle in France and soon moved back to his home country.

Miranda returned to Brazil in August 2006, on loan to São Paulo FC.

In the same year, São Paulo won the 2006 Campeonato Brasileiro.

He won three consecutive Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles, and was named in the Team of the Year four consecutive times from 2007 to 2010.

In March 2007, he signed with São Paulo FC until 2011.

He went on to win the 2007 and the 2008 editions of the Campeonato Brasileiro also, even being selected for the "Team of the Year" in both 2007 and 2008 respectively.

On 20 August 2007, Miranda received his first call-up to the national team, along with Thiago Silva, as a replacement for Lúcio and Luisão in a friendly match against Algeria.

However, he did not make his debut as he was only an unused substitute during the match.

Miranda made his full international debut for Brazil in 2009 and was a member of the squad which won the Confederations Cup that year.

While São Paulo failed to win any more national titles during Miranda's stay with the club, his individual performances did not go unheralded, as he was included in a further two "Team of the Year" squads in 2009 and 2010.

More than a year later, Miranda made his first international appearance for Brazil in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Peru on 1 April 2009.

He came on as a substitute for Luisão who was injured during the game.

In 2011, he joined Atlético Madrid, where he won domestic and European honours, leaving for Inter for €15 million four years later.

Miranda joined Spanish side Atlético Madrid in July 2011 upon signing a three-year pre-contractual agreement in January 2011 with Atlético after deciding not to renew his contract with São Paulo which was due to expire in July 2011.

Miranda made his competitive debut for his new club on 25 August 2011 in a 4–0 thumping of Portuguese side Vitória S.C. in the second leg of their Europa League playoff round tie.

Miranda made his La Liga debut on 10 September in a 1–0 loss to Valencia CF, Roberto Soldado scoring the game's only goal.

The Brazilian defender scored his first goal for the capital club against Granada CF on 11 March 2012, converting a pass from Diego Godín to a goal in the top left corner of the net, pushing the club to a 2–0 league victory.

On 8 April, Miranda put in an underwhelming display against fellow Champions League chasing club Levante UD, letting Arouna Koné in for Levante's second goal in the tenth minute and then picking up a red card with seven minutes left; Atlético lost the game 2–0 and Levante moved up to fourth place.

His first European goal for the club came later that month against Spanish opposition, scoring Atlético's second goal in an eventual 4–2 first-leg win against Valencia in the semi-finals of their Europa League encounter on 19 April.

Miranda scored Atlético's third goal in their 4–1 UEFA Super Cup thrashing of European Champions Chelsea on 31 August 2012.

On 12 March 2013, Miranda renewed his contract with Madrid, keeping him in Spain until 2016.

In the Copa del Rey final on 17 May, Miranda provided the match-winner, scoring a header in added time of extra time to give Atlético a 2–1 victory over Real Madrid.

After helping Atlético to their first league title in 17 years, Miranda was nominated in 2014 as the best defender in La Liga, alongside teammate Filipe Luís and Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos.

On 30 June 2015, Serie A club Inter Milan announced that they had signed Miranda on a two-year loan, for €4 million, with an obligation to sign outright for an additional €11 million on 1 July 2017, with conditions that would push the date even earlier.

He was also sent off twice in his first year with the Nerazzurri, the first coming on 27 September 2015 for a foul on Nikola Kalinić in a 4–1 home loss to Fiorentina that ended Inter's unbeaten start.

The obligation was activated after Miranda's 2016–17 season debut for Inter on 20 July.

Miranda made his Inter debut on 23 August as they began the season with a 1–0 home win over Atalanta.

He played 32 games over the campaign, scoring once in a 3–1 victory against Sampdoria at the San Siro on 20 February 2016.

He also played at three Copa América tournaments and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, captaining Brazil at the Copa América Centenario in 2016 and winning the 2019 Copa América.

Born in Paranavaí, Paraná, Miranda started at Coritiba, where he made 89 appearances and scored 6 goals.

On 26 July 2019, it was announced that Miranda's contract with Inter was terminated by a mutual consent.

Inter also announced that he was set to join Chinese club Jiangsu Suning.

On 28 February 2021, Jiangsu announced that the club would be dissolved, and because of that, all players contracted to the club would be released, including Miranda.

In 6 March 2021, before the derby against Santos at the Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo president Julio Casares confirmed the return of Miranda on a free transfer after days of negotiations.

He signed a 1 year and 8 month contract.

On January 11, 2023, Miranda announced his retirement at the age of 38, through his Instagram.