João Paulo (footballer, born February 1981)

João Paulo Azevedo Barbosa (born 12 February 1981), simply known as João Paulo, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Nacional-AM as a goalkeeper.

Club career
Born in Limeira, São Paulo, João Paulo made his senior debuts with União São João in 2000. After subsequently playing for lower teams in the same state, he joined América-RN in 2007.

On 12 February 2008, after appearing with Rio Branco-ES, João Paulo signed for Metropolitano. He left the club in the following year, but after playing for Brasil de Pelotas, returned to Metrô in 2010.

João Paulo moved back to his native state on 2 October 2010, after agreeing to a deal with Mogi Mirim. On 15 April of the following year he joined Grêmio Barueri in Série B, making his debut in the category on 20 May 2011, starting in a 0–1 away loss against Goiás.

On 16 May 2012, after impressing with Grêmio Catanduvense in Campeonato Paulista (despite appearing in only three matches), João Paulo signed for Bragantino. After making no appearances for Braga, he moved to Icasa shortly after.

On 2 January 2013 João Paulo was announced at Joinville. On 13 May he joined Cuiabá, but returned to Metropolitano on 12 November.

On 27 June 2014, João Paulo agreed a contract with Blumenau, but on 2 July joined Atlético Sorocaba. On 3 November he moved to CSA, but rescinded his link on 19 February 2015.

Hours after rescinding with CSA, João Paulo signed a three-month deal with Série A club Chapecoense.