Rafinha

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Personal information
Rafinha

Full name	Márcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza
Date of birth	September 7, 1985 (1985-09-07) (age 22)
Place of birth	Londrina, Brazil
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Right-back
Club information
Current club	Schalke 04
Number	18
Youth clubs
1992–1997 1997–2001 2001–2002	Gremio Londrina P.S.T.C. Londrina Junior Team
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2005 2005–	Coritiba Schalke 04	037 0(3) 092 0(4)
National team²
2002–2005 2008–	Brazil U-20 Brazil	08 0(2) 01 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 25, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of April 1, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Márcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza, commonly known as Rafinha, (born September 7, 1985) is a Brazilian footballer who plays at right-back for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.

Rafinha began his football career at the age of seven, playing for Gremio Londrinense, a futsal team from his home town of Londrina in Paraná. By the age of twelve, he had begun training with PSTC, a local football club, before signing for Londrina Esporte Clube in 2001, at the age of 16. However, at the end of his first year with Londrina, Rafinha was signed by Coritiba Foot Ball Club. Although this meant moving hundreds of kilometres from his home town, Coritiba would allow Rafinha to display his talents on a national stage.

While at Coritiba, Rafinha eventually found his way into the Brazilian Under-20 team, and played in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. During the tournament, Rafinha scored two goals and played an integral part in Brazil's progress to the bronze medal. Rafinha's performance at the tournament alerted numerous European teams to his ability, but eventually it was Schalke who were able to prise the right-back from Coritiba for an estimated €5 million on a four-year contract.

Although Rafinha's current contract runs until 2011,^[1] he has been linked with a move to Liverpool,^[2] who are reportedly set to move for him.^[3] He remarked that, if Liverpool made an offer, he "would be inclined to accept".^[4]^[5]^[6]. His name literally means 'Little Rafa'.