Nando Rafael (born 10 January 1984) is an Angolan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Bali United Bali United Football Club is a professional football club based in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. The club competes in the Liga 1, the top tier of Indonesian football. Bali United emerged in 2015 as the result of the total rebranding of Indonesia ...

in the

Indonesian Super League Liga 1 ( en, League 1), also known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by the PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Liga 1 i ...

Early life

Rafael was born in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

. He fled from the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

at the age of eight after both of his parents had been killed, and resided at first illegally in the Netherlands. There he did not receive a work permit and was therefore unable to play football professionally, forcing him to move elsewhere.

Club career

In 2002, Rafael signed for

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

in Germany. In 2006, he was signed by

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. His first season at AGF was partly spoiled by injuries, making his impact on the team less significant than expected. His physically strong appearance makes him a solid target player, but he also has good technical skills and is a competent goal scorer. He joined from AGF on 10 January 2010 on loan to

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

for one season. On 19 July 2010, Rafael signed a two-year contract with FC Augsburg. On 27 June 2013, Rafael joined

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

club

Henan Jianye Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye Football Club (), is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team ...

, replacing

Joël Tshibamba Joël Omari Tshibamba (born 22 September 1988) is a Dutch-Congolese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Dutch club Achilles '29. Club career NEC Tshibamba played for NEC's youth team before making his senior debut for the cl ...

who was released by the club.

International career

Rafael was born in Angola, raised in the Netherlands, and moved to Germany as a teenager to further his footballing career. Rafael eventually received a German passport and was a German international at U21 level. He switched to the

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...

. He already played for ''Palancas Negras'' in a rated-B friendly match against Portuguese side

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

on 10 November 2011.

Career statistics

Honours

Borussia Mönchengladbach *

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

: 2007–08 Henan Jianye *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

*
Official Danish league stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafael, Nando 1984 births Living people Angolan men's footballers Angola men's international footballers German men's footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Naturalized citizens of Germany AFC Ajax players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Hertha BSC players Hertha BSC II players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players FC Augsburg players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Danish Superliga players German expatriate men's footballers Angolan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Men's association football forwards Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players Angolan emigrants to Germany Henan F.C. players VfL Bochum players Expatriate men's footballers in China Chinese Super League players China League One players