| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rafael Augusto Sóbis do Nascimento | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1985 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Erechim, Brazil | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||
| Playing position | Forward | |||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||
| Current club | Fluminense | |||||||||||
| Number | 23 | |||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Internacional | 80 | (28) | |||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Betis | 57 | (8) | |||||||||
| 2008– | Al Jazira | 21 | (7) | |||||||||
| 2010–2011 | → Internacional (loan) | 16 | (4) | |||||||||
| 2011– | → Fluminense (loan) | 26 | (10) | |||||||||
| National team‡ | ||||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Brazil U20 | 16 | (4) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Brazil U23 | 6 | (2) | |||||||||
| 2006– | Brazil | 8 | (1) | |||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 5, 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Rafael Augusto Sóbis do Nascimento (born 17 June 1985 in Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul), commonly known as Rafael Sóbis, is a Brazilian footballer of Ukrainian descent, who plays for Fluminense.
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He started in the youth categories of Internacional, known only as Rafael. Inter's president at the time, Fernando Carvalho, suggested the change to only Sobis, the surname of his Ukrainian origins, because it could be more attractive for the European leagues, where the boy could get dual citizenship.[1]
He went to the main team in 2004 and quickly won a place in it, being known by his name along the surname (with acute accent), Rafael Sóbis. Sóbis scored 19 goals in 35 matches in the 2005 season at the age of 19. In the following year, he was one of the main players in the Internacional squad that finished the Brazilian League in second place, and was selected by the CBF to play in the all star team at the end of the season. The 2006 season started slowly for him, as he fought against a series of injuries. He eventually recovered his place in the first team and helped Internacional secure the Libertadores title; scoring twice in the first-leg of the final match against São Paulo.
Following interest from AC Milan and Racing de Santander, Rafael Sóbis signed for Real Betis in August 2006 for €9 million, putting pen to paper on a 8 year contract, a length reminiscent to that of fellow Brazilian international Denílson. He was officially unveiled to the press on 8 September 2006 and made his Real Betis and La Liga debut against Athletic Bilbao two days later on 10 September at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stadium, a game that Betis won 3–0.
Sóbis scored his first goals against city rivals Sevilla on 17 September, a match that Betis eventually lost 3–2. Sóbis also managed to score important goals against Celta de Vigo, a debut game for then newly appointed coach Luis Fernández. Ligament damage sustained in a game against RCD Mallorca meant Sóbis missed a month of La Liga action. Sóbis major contribution to the 2006–2007 season was his dramatic late equaliser against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, assisted by fellow Brazilian Marcos Assunção.
Sóbis began his second season with Betis strongly, scoring three goals in his first six games, including goals against La Liga giants Valencia CF, RCD Mallorca and 2007 UEFA Cup finalists RCD Espanyol but once again the Brazilian's form dipped. Betis received an offer of €10.0 million from English Premier League club Newcastle United for Sobis in July 2008.[2]
On 2 September 2008 Real Betis confirmed that Sobis had joined UAE side Al-Jazira for €10M.[3]
On July, 2010 Rafael Sóbis returned to Internacional on loan for one year to play the Copa Libertadores. On 18 August 2010, Internacional defeated Chivas Guadalajara in the 2010 Copa Libertadores final with Sóbis scoring Internacional's first goal in their 3–2 win. He hurt his arm while scoring the goal by falling over it, and had to be replaced later on by Leandro Damião, who also ended up scoring a goal during the match.[4] After the loan ended Internacional doesn't use the buy option, because of his injuries and high price, and he returned to the United Arab Emirates.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Brazil | ||
| Men's Football | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 2008 Beijing | Team competition |
Sóbis made his debut for Brazil on 3 September 2006 against Argentina in London. Brazil won the match 3–0 with Sóbis making his appearance as a late substitute. He scored his first Brazil's goal in an unofficial friendly match against Kuwaiti club Al Kuwait on 7 October 2006.
In 2008, he was included in Brazil U-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which Brazil went on to finish third and achieve bronze medal.
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