Jorginho

Club

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Jorginho started playing professionally for local side América Football Club, moving after just one season to Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. In 1989, he went overseas, joining German Bundesliga outfit Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With most teams in the country playing in a 5–3–2 or 3–5–2 formation, his tremendous offensive ability was put to good use, and he scored five goals for Bayer during his third and final season. Staying in the country, Jorginho signed with league giants FC Bayern Munich in 1992–93, backed by a defensive line which included Olaf Thon, Thomas Helmer and later Lothar Matthäus. He won the national title in his second year, but after the loan return of Markus Babbel, a central defender who also operated on the right flank, he was restricted to just ten league contests in 1994–95. After still appearing with success for J.League's Kashima Antlers, winning both the league and MVP titles in 1996, Jorginho returned to Brazil and played until 39, with São Paulo FC, CR Vasco da Gama and Fluminense Football Club. In 2001, he paired at Vasco with both Romário and Bebeto, but did not seem to get along with the pair.

International

Jorginho was capped 64 times for the Brazil national team, scoring three goals. He played at both the 1990 and the 1994 FIFA World Cups. In the latter edition, he played all the matches as the nation emerged victorious. Jorginho was booked in the second-round match against the United States, but was…

Jorginho started his coaching career with his first club America in December 2005. In the following year, he was appointed Dunga's assistant at the Brazil national team, remaining with the role until 2010. On 30 August 2010, Jorginho was announced as the new Goiás head coach. Dismissed on 8 November, he was appointed head coach of Figueirense the following 1 March. On 21 December 2011, Jorginho left Figueira and was named at the helm of Kashima Antlers, a club he already represented as a player. He returned to Brazil on 17 March 2013, being appointed Flamengo head coach, but was sacked on 6 June. Jorginho was subsequently in charge of Ponte Preta and Al-Wasl before being named head coach of former club Vasco on 16 August 2015. Despite failing to avoid relegation, he was maintained and won the 2016 Campeonato Carioca; after achieving immediate promotion, he resigned on 28 November 2016. On 1 June 2017, Jorginho was appointed head coach of Bahia, but his reign only lasted nearly two months. The following 21 May he replaced fired Marcelo Chamusca at the helm of Ceará, but resigned on 4 June after alleging "personal reasons"; the day after his resignation, he was announced back at Vasco. Jorginho was fired on 13 August 2018, after only 10 matches. During the 2019 season, he coached second division sides Ponte Preta and Coritiba, achieving top tier promotion with the latter side but still leaving on 11 December after failing to agree new terms. On 21 August 2020, Jorginho was…

Hellas Verona

Jorginho was a youth player of Hellas Verona. In June 2010, Jorginho was loaned out to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione club Sambonifacese, where he played his first full senior season for the Veneto club – appearing 31 times and scoring one goal while providing ten assists from his central midfield position. He made his Verona debut on 4 September 2011, in a match against Sassuolo as a substitute in the 76th minute.

Napoli

On 18 January 2014, he joined Napoli in a co-ownership deal with Verona for four and a half years. On 12 February, he scored the last goal as Napoli overturned a 3–2 first-leg deficit to beat Roma and reach the 2014 Coppa Italia Final. In the final, on 3 May, Jorginho played the full 90 minutes as Napoli defeated Fiorentina 3–1. In the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana in Doha on 22 December 2014, Jorginho entered the game against Juventus in the second half of extra time in place of Jonathan de Guzmán. He took Napoli's first spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out, and although Gianluigi Buffon saved it, Napoli were eventually victorious. While initially struggling to get into manager Rafael Benítez's line-up, Jorginho's fortunes changed with the appointment of Maurizio Sarri who was key to his development, deploying him in a deep-lying midfield role from which he could dictate play with his passing. In 2017–18, Jorginho had a breakthrough season with Napoli and was integral to their Serie A title challenge.

Chelsea

2018–19…

As Jorginho holds both Italian and Brazilian citizenship, he was eligible to play for both the Italian and Brazilian national teams. In 2012, he was called up for the first time for Italy U21, however; he did not play. In 2014, Jorginho expressed his desire to represent Italy rather than Brazil internationally, and he received his first call up to the Italy senior squad in March 2016, under manager Antonio Conte, for the team's international friendlies against Spain and Germany. He made his international debut for Italy on 24 March, coming on as a last-minute substitute for Marco Parolo in a 1–1 draw against Spain at the Stadio Friuli in Udine. After initially being included in Conte's preliminary 30-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, on 31 May, Jorginho was later excluded from the final 23-man squad. Despite his positive club form for Napoli, Jorginho was not initially called up to the Italian side under Conte's successor, Gian Piero Ventura. Although rumours circled in the media regarding the possibility of Brazil's coach Tite calling Jorginho up to his squad in autumn 2017, as he had not yet appeared for Italy in a competitive match, Jorginho denied rumours that he wanted to switch to the Brazilian national team. He later made his first competitive appearance for Italy under manager Ventura in a 0–0 home draw against Sweden on 13 November, in the second leg of the 2018 FIFA World Cup play-offs against Sweden, at the San Siro in Milan; however, Italy's 1–0 away loss in the…

Jorginho is a born-again Christian. Alongside compatriots Cláudio Taffarel and Bismarck – also footballers – he was featured sharing his faith in a special version of the film Jesus, produced and distributed during the 1998 World Cup. He also founded the club Bola Pra Frente in his Rio de Janeiro slum of Guadalupe.

Jorge Luiz Frello Filho was born on 20 December 1991 in Imbituba in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina but moved to Italy at the age of 15. He is of Italian descent through his paternal great-grandfather Giacomo Frello who is from Lusiana, Veneto, and thus earned Italian citizenship as a result. He has credited his mother with encouraging his love of football. After discovering that he was being financially exploited by his agent while playing for the Verona youth team, Jorginho almost quit the game and wanted to move back to Brazil, but credits an emotional phone call with his mother for inspiring him to persist and continue playing. His childhood idol was Romanian player Gheorghe Hagi, which led to his friends nicknaming him Haginho. He was also inspired by Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho, Kaká, Andrea Pirlo and Xavi Hernández.

Jorginho married Natalia Leteri in 2017 and had two children. They divorced in 2019. In 2019, Jorginho began a relationship with Irish singer Catherine Harding. They welcomed a son in 2020 and married in 2025, at Villa Erba on Lake Como in Italy. Upon their marriage, Jorginho became stepfather to Harding's daughter with Jude Law. In March 2026, Jorginho accused a bodyguard allegedly working for singer Chappell Roan of speaking aggressively to his wife and stepdaughter (Law's daughter) at a São Paulo hotel after the stepdaughter had walked past the singer. The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Cavaliere, then banned Roan from performing at the Todo Mundo no Rio festival. Roan stated she was unaware of the events and the bodyguard in question was not working for her. The bodyguard later confirmed he did not work for Roan and took responsibility for the incident. Following the responses of Roan and the security guard involved, Jorginho publicly retracted his prior comments and condemned the hate speech targeted towards Roan in the aftermath of his initial statement.

Player

Flamengo

Copa União: 1987 Campeonato Carioca: 1986 Taça Guanabara: 1984, 1988 Bayern Munich

Bundesliga: 1993–94 Kashima Antlers

J.League: 1996, 1998 Vasco da Gama

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2000 Copa Mercosur: 2000 Taça Guanabara: 2000 Fluminense

Campeonato Carioca: 2002 Brazil

FIFA World Cup: 1994 FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1983 Summer Olympic Games silver medal: 1988 Pan American Games silver medal: 1983 Rous Cup: 1987 Individual

FIFA Fair Play Award: 1991 World XI: 1991 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1994 J.League MVP: 1996 J.League Best XI: 1996 J.League Cup MVP: 1997

Manager

Kashima Antlers

J.League Cup: 2012 Suruga Bank Championship: 2012 Vasco da Gama

Campeonato Carioca: 2016 Buriram United

Thai League: 2023–24