José Paulo Bezerra Maciel Júnior (born 25 July 1988), known as Paulinho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

[4] Following one season in Poland where Paulinho made 17 league appearances, he returned to Brazil and his first club Pão de Açúcar in the summer of 2008.

[6] He would eventually go on to win important competitions with the São Paulo side, such as the 2011 Brasileirão and the 2012 Copa Libertadores, cementing himself as a hero for his club.

[7] Along the way to the Copa Libertadores final, Paulinho netted the only goal of the two-legged quarter-final tie against fellow Brazilian side Vasco da Gama, scoring in the 87th minute of the second leg on 23 May 2012 to send Corinthians into the semi-finals.

[9] On 16 December, Paulinho and Corinthians won the Club World Cup in Yokohama as Paolo Guerrero scored the winner in the 1–0 victory over European champions Chelsea.

[10] On 6 July 2013, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur confirmed the signing of Paulinho after he successfully completed his medical for a fee reported to be just under £17 million.

[12] He made his Premier League debut on 18 August 2013 against Crystal Palace, eventually being named Man of the Match in which Tottenham won 1–0 away thanks to a Roberto Soldado penalty.

[13] On 22 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a Europa League qualification match against Dinamo Tbilisi, a 5–0 away victory in the first-leg.

[18] On 25 August 2015, Paulinho scored his first goal for Guangzhou with a 35-yard free-kick in the first leg of a 2015 AFC Champions League knock-out stage match against Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol.

[44] Paulinho made his debut for the Seleção on 14 September 2011 in the first leg of the 2011 Superclásico de las Américas against rivals Argentina in Córdoba, with the game ending in a goalless draw.

[46] Paulinho was selected by Luiz Felipe Scolari for the 23-man Brazil squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup held in his home country.

[49] In the semi-final round against Uruguay on 26 June, Paulinho netted in the 86th minute to give Brazil a 2–1 win and book the host country a spot in the final.

[58] On 27 June, he scored in Brazil's final group match, a 2–0 win over Serbia, to send his team through to the knock-out stages of the competition.