Júlio Cernadas Pereira (13 January 1929 – 11 October 2007), commonly known as Juca, was a Portuguese football midfielder and coach.
In 1949 he went to Portugal and joined Sporting CP, where he remained for nine years until his retirement at the age of 29 due to a knee injury, helping them win five Primeira Liga championships and the 1954 domestic cup.
After spending the following years with three clubs, mainly Académica de Coimbra, and some periods of inactivity, Juca returned to Sporting for 1975–76, being fired after the team could only rank in fifth position, 12 points behind champions S.L.
In his second spell with the Coimbra side, Juca accumulated and worked for the first time as coach of the Portugal national team – in 1968 he had already worked in Otto Glória's staff[1]– winning three games during the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finishing second to Poland in its group, but faring worse in the 1982 edition (fourth position);[2] both campaigns ended in failure to reach the final stages.
Juca was again in charge of the national team for the 1990 World Cup qualification, missing it by just two points in the favour of Czechoslovakia.