Paulo Josué

Paulo Josué
Personal information
Full name	Paulo Josué Stürmer dos Reis
Date of birth	13 March 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Canela, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, forward
Team information
Current team	Kuala Lumpur City
Number	28
Senior career*
Years	Team
2011–2012	Juventude
2013	Esportivo
2013–2014	Juventude
2014	Passo Fundo
2014	Marcílio Dias
2015	Lajeadense
2015	Votuporanguense
2015–2016	Lajeadense
2017	Votuporanguense
2017	Boa Esporte
2017–	Kuala Lumpur City
International career‡
2023–	Malaysia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 December 2023; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2024

Paulo Josué Stürmer dos Reis (born 13 March 1989), better known as Paulo Josué, is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Malaysia Super League club Kuala Lumpur City which he captains. Born in Brazil, he plays for the Malaysia national team.

Club career

Career in Brazil

Josué had played with six different Brazilian clubs before moving abroad.^[2]

Kuala Lumpur City

2017

On 2 June 2017, Josué joined Malaysia Premier League club Kuala Lumpur City during mid-season transfer.^[3] He scored 6 goals from 9 league matches and helps the club to win the 2017 Malaysia Premier League which sees the club promoted to the 2018 Malaysia Super League.

2018

Josué scored 7 goals during his Malaysia Super League debut. His contribution helps Kuala Lumpur maintain its super league team status.

2019

In the 2019 season, he did not manage to stop the club from being relegated as the club finished bottom of the table.

2020

For the 2020 league season, he is made the captain of Kuala Lumpur City, which is a rare achievement for a foreign player.

2021

In 2021, Josué captained the team in the final of the 2021 Malaysia Cup. In the final game against the overwhelming favorite Johor Darul Ta'zim, Kuala Lumpur City managed to beat the odds and win the game 2–0. Josué scored the second goal to claim the cup.

2022

On 9 April, Josué scored a brace in 2–0 win over Melaka United to gain the 3 points in the league. During the 2022 AFC Cup campaign, Josué scored a brace in a 2–1 win over Singaporean side Tampines Rovers on 30 June 2022. This win sees his side qualified to the knockout stage where they would face Vietnamese side Viettel. Josué help the Kuala Lumpur City to win the match on penalties shoot-out thus qualifying to the next round against Indonesian club PSM Makassar on 24 August. Josué would then go on to score a brace in a 5–2 home win which would see Kuala Lumpur City advanced to the quarter-finals against Indian club ATK Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium on 7 September. Josué scored in the 60th minute before the opponent scored in the 90th minute to equalise the match at 1–1. With a 5 minute added in stoppage time, Josué then assisted Fakrul Aiman in the 90+2th minute who would then scored the winner. In the 90+5th minute, Romel Morales would then seal the win with a scoreline of 3–1 which then see the club advance to the semi-final. In the semi-finals against Uzbekistani club Sogdiana Jizzakh at the Sogdiyona Sport Majmuasi. Josué then help his team to beat the opponent in the penalties shoot-out which would then see Kuala City Lumpur advanced to the 2022 AFC Cup Final against Omani club Al-Seeb at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 22 October, However, Kuala City Lumpur lost the final in a 3–0 defeat.

2023

In 2023, Josué helps is team to advanced all the way to the 2023 Malaysia FA Cup final but however lost to Johor Darul Ta'zim 2–0. On 12 October, he scored a brace and assisted

2024

During the 2024–25 ASEAN Club Championship against Philippines club Kaya–Iloilo on 22 August, Josué assisted Haqimi Azim to scored the winner. On 14 September 2024, Josué scored his first club hat-trick in a 5–0 league win over Kedah Darul Aman.

International career

Having played in Malaysia for the last 7 years, Josué obtained his Malaysian citizenship in early 2023, thus enabling him to be registered as a local player and getting a call-up to the Malaysia national team. He received his first national call-up on 18 March 2023 for the training camp ahead of friendly matches against Turkmenistan and Hong Kong. He made his debut for Malaysia against Turkmenistan on 23 March 2023.

He played as a false 9 in the starting line-up against Solomon Islands in a friendly and scored his first international goal on 14 June 2023. He was once again put in the same position against Papua New Guinea in an international friendly on 20 June 2023. In the match he scored his first international hat-trick where Malaysia won 10–0.

Josué also represents the nation at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar. On 25 January 2024, while Malaysia is losing 2–3 to South Korea, he set up the goal to Romel Morales who than scored the equaliser in the 90+15th minute stoppage time which earned Malaysia their first point of the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

As of 15 September 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League		National cup ^[a]		League cup ^[b]		Continental ^[c]		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kuala Lumpur	2017	9	6	–		6	0	–		15	6
	2018	21	7	4	2	5	1	–		30	10
	2019	21	2	3	1	5	4	–		29	7
	2020	10	4	0	0	0	0	–		10	4
	2021	20	9	0	0	11	1	–		31	10
	2022	20	6	2	1	4	1	7	5	33	13
	2023	24	11	3	0	1	0	0	0	28	11
	2024–25	9	7	1	1	0	0	1	0	11	8
	Total	134	52	13	5	32	7	8	5	187	69
Career total		134	52	13	5	32	7	8	5	177	70

^ Includes Malaysia FA Cup
^ Includes Malaysia Cup and Malaysia Challenge Cup
^ Includes AFC Cup

International

As of match played 11 June 2024^[4]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Malaysia	2023	8	4
Malaysia	2024	7	1
Total		15	5

Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Josué goal.

List of international goals scored by Paulo Josué
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 June 2023	Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia	Solomon Islands	1–1	4–1	Friendly
2	20 June 2023	Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia	Papua New Guinea	2–0	10–0	Friendly
3				6–0
4				7–0
	9 January 2024	Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Syria	2–2	2–2	Friendly¹
5	11 June 2024	Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Chinese Taipei	2–1	3–1	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification