Rafael López Gómez (; born 9 April 1985), commonly known as Rafa, is a Spanish 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 mainly as a central defender.

Club career

Rafa was born in Peñafiel,

Province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a Provinces of Spain, province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 munici ...

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

. A product of Real Valladolid's youth system, he made his debut with the first team on 8 February 2004 in a 0–2 away defeat against RCD Espanyol, but only managed, however, six appearances with the main squad over his first two professional seasons. After a season-long loan at SD Eibar in the second division, Rafa returned to help Valladolid

regain Regain Records was a Swedish-based independent record label. The label predominantly released death metal and black metal albums. Regain Records was founded from what remained of the former label, Wrong Again Records, by Per Gyllenbäck in 1997 ...

their La Liga status in 2007. He played 21 league matches in the following campaign. Rafa agreed to join

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

on a Bosman transfer in early July 2008. He would spend most of his first year as

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, replacing out-of-form

Lucas Licht Lucas Matías Licht (born 6 April 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Club Atlético Villa San Carlos mainly as a left-back but also as a left winger. Club career Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Licht grew up in the youth acad ...

who was sold shortly after. In 2009–10, benefitting from consecutive injuries to Mario, Rafa was mostly first-choice. With 27 games and two goals from the player, the Madrid team finished sixth and qualified to the UEFA Europa League for the second time in their history. On 1 September 2014, the last open day of the transfer window, Rafa transferred to newly promoted German Bundesliga club SC Paderborn 07, signing a two-year contract. He made his league debut on 22 November, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–2 home draw against Borussia Dortmund. Rafa returned to his first club Valladolid on 13 July 2016, after agreeing to a three-year deal. The following 17 June, he left. On 23 August 2017, 32-year-old Rafa signed for Indian Super League franchise FC Pune City. He returned to Spain and its second division the following 7 July, after joining

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with ...

on a one-year contract.

Club statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafa 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Valladolid Spanish footballers Footballers from Castile and León Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Valladolid Promesas players Real Valladolid players SD Eibar footballers Getafe CF footballers CF Rayo Majadahonda players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players SC Paderborn 07 players Indian Super League players FC Pune City players Hyderabad FC players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India