Rafa Silva

Rafa Silva
Personal information
Full nameRafael Alexandre Fernandes Ferreira Silva
Date of birth17 May 1993
Place of birthForte da Casa, Portugal
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Braga
Number18
Youth career
2002–2003Povoense
2003–2011Alverca
2011–2012Feirense
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2012–2013Feirense41(10)
2013–Braga51(5)
National team‡
2013Portugal U202(0)
2013–Portugal U2110(3)
2014–Portugal3(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 October 2014

Rafael 'Rafa' Alexandre Fernandes Ferreira Silva (born 17 May 1993) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for S.C. Braga as a midfielder.

Club career

Feirense

Born in Forte da Casa, Vila Franca de Xira, Silva started playing football with Atlético Povoense and F.C. Alverca, both in the Lisbon District. In 2011, aged 18, he signed with C.D. Feirense with which he played his last year as a junior.

Silva made his professional debut on 29 July 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win against F.C. Penafiel for the season's domestic League Cup.[1] He only missed one game in the league campaign, totalling more than 3,200 minutes of action to help his team finish 13th in the second division.[2][3]

Braga

In June 2013 Silva signed a five-year contract with S.C. Braga, for an undisclosed fee.[4] He made his top flight debut on 26 August, starting in a 2–1 win against C.F. Os Belenenses.[5]

International career

Silva made his first appearance for the Portuguese under-20 team on 23 April 2013, against Uzbekistan.[6] He was not selected to that year's FIFA U-20 World Cup, however.

On 28 February 2014 Silva received his first callup for the senior side, for an exhibition game with Cameroon on 5 March.[7] He played the first 45 minutes of the game, in a 5–1 win in Leiria.[8]

On 19 May 2014, Rafa was named in the final 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[9]

Club statistics

As of 16 April 2015[10]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Feirense 2012–13 41102140--4711
Total 41 10 2 1 4 0 0 0 47 11
Braga 2013–14 233544200329
2014–15 282423000354
Total 51 5 9 6 7 2 0 0 67 13
Career Total 92 15 11 7 11 2 0 0 114 24

References

  1. ↑ "Feirense 2:1 Penafiel". Zerozero. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Feirense-Freamunde, 3–1: Pires carimbou a vitória" [Feirense-Freamunde, 3–1: Pires sealed win] (in Portuguese). Record. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  3. ↑ ""Doidos" por Rafa" ["Crazy" about Rafa] (in Portuguese). Record. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "Rafa até 2018" [Rafa until 2018] (in Portuguese). Record. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "Golo nos descontos salva um displicente Sp. Braga frente ao Belenenses" [Injury time goal saves nonchalant Sp. Braga against Belenenses] (in Portuguese). Público. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Seleção de sub-20 perde diante do Uzbequistão" [Under-20 national team loses against Uzbekistan] (in Portuguese). RTP. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "Rafa e Ivan Cavaleiro convocados para jogo da selecção com os Camarões" [Rafa and Ivan Cavaleiro called for national team game with Cameroon] (in Portuguese). Público. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Ronaldo reaches new milestone in Portugal win". UEFA.com. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Paulo Bento announces Portugal's 23-man World Cup squad". PortuGOAL. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "Rafa Silva". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 June 2014.

External links