Rafinha (footballer, born 1985)

Rafinha

Rafinha with Bayern Munich in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Márcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza[1]
Date of birth	(1985-09-07) 7 September 1985
Place of birth	Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current team	Bayern Munich
Number	13
Youth career
1992–1997	Gremio Londrina
1997–2001	P.S.T.C.
2001–2002	Londrina
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2005	Coritiba	37	(3)
2005–2010	Schalke 04	153	(7)
2010–2011	Genoa	34	(2)
2011–	Bayern Munich	136	(3)
National team‡
2002–2005	Brazil U20	8	(2)
2008	Brazil U23	8	(0)
2008–	Brazil	4	(0)
Honours  Brazil FIFA World Youth Championship 2005 Olympic Games 2008
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:33, 20 May 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 June 2017

Márcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza, commonly known as Rafinha [ʁɐˈfiɲa], (born 7 September 1985) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a right back for Bayern Munich^[3] and the Brazil national team. His name translated from Portuguese literally means "Little Rafa". He is known as a skilled defender with good passing skills, quick pace, agility and a strong shot.^[4]

Early career

Brazil and Schalke

Rafinha began his football career at the age of seven, playing for Gremio Londrinense, a futsal team from his home town of Londrina, Paraná. By age 12, he had begun training with PSTC, a local football club, before signing for Londrina Esporte Clube in 2001 at the age of 16. At the end of his first year with Londrina, Rafinha was signed by Coritiba. This meant moving hundreds of kilometres from his home town, but allowed Rafinha to display his talents on the national stage.

Rafinha with Schalke 04 in 2005

At Coritiba, Rafinha eventually found his way into the Brazil under-20 national team, and played in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. During the tournament, he 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, with German club Schalke 04 ultimately signing the right-back from Coritiba for an estimated €5 million on a four-year contract.^[5]

Genoa

On 4 August 2010, it was confirmed that Rafinha moved from Schalke to Italian side Genoa.^[6][7] The transfer had cost Genoa €8 million.^[8] He scored two goals in 34 appearances in his only Serie A season. After Genoa had failed to pay the transfer fee in time, however, Rafinha's former club Schalke sued Genoa through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).^[9]

Bayern Munich

On 1 June 2011, Bayern Munich confirmed Rafinha's transfer from Genoa, as well as of his former Schalke teammate Manuel Neuer. Rafinha signed a three-year contract and reports say Bayern paid €5.75 million for him.^[8][10] He scored his first goal for Bayern against Villarreal, as a substitute in a 2–0 UEFA Champions League win on 14 September 2011.^[11] Entering as an 83rd-minute substitute on 20 October 2012 during an away match against Fortuna Düsseldorf, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern in a 5–0 win.^[12] He played a total of 13 Bundesliga games throughout the season, adding another goal on 13 April in a 4–0 win over 1. FC Nürnberg.^[13]

During the 2013–14 season, after fellow right back Philipp Lahm was moved to defensive midfield, Rafinha found more opportunities to play regularly. He made 46 appearances across all competitions, including the entire DFB-Pokal Final in which Bayern secured a second consecutive double after defeating Borussia Dortmund.^[14]

International career

Brazil

U-23 (2008 Olympics)

In the summer of 2008, Rafinha was involved in a dispute with his club about his participation for Brazil at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Schalke 04 (to send Rafinha) along with Werder Bremen (Diego) and Barcelona (Lionel Messi) did not want to release their players for the Olympic games so that they could help them in their domestic and European competitions. The case was taken to FIFA, which ruled that all clubs should release their players aged under 23 for the Games.

Schalke, Werder Bremen and Barcelona, however, took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who eventually ruled in the clubs' favour, stating, "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeals filed by FC Schalke 04, SV Werder Bremen and FC Barcelona against the decision issued on 30 July 2008 by the Single Judge of the FIFA's Players' Status Committee that consequently has been set aside in its entirety."^[15]

Schalke continued its bar on Rafinha from attending the Olympics. Despite his club's wishes, however, he ultimately did compete for the Brazil squad, which won bronze. On 24 September 2008, Schalke fined Rafinha a record amount of €700,000, as they argued his 35 days in Beijing for the Games were "in serious breach of contract".

Senior team

Rafinha made his senior debut for Brazil on 26 March 2008 in a friendly match against Sweden.^[16] He then went through a six-year absence from the national team, having made his second and last appearance in a friendly against South Africa on 5 March 2014. In May 2014, he was named by Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari as a standby player for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[17]

On 17 September 2015, Rafinha was called up by head coach Dunga for two qualifying fixtures for the 2018 World Cup, but five days later turned it down, while also denying claims of rejecting the call-up to represent his adopted homeland Germany.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich^[16]

• Bundesliga: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
• DFB-Pokal: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
• DFL-Supercup: 2012, 2016, 2017
• UEFA Champions League: 2012–13
• UEFA Super Cup: 2013
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2013

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rafinha.

• Official website
• Rafinha at Fussballdaten (in German)