Rafael Lima Pereira (born 1 April 1993), commonly known as Rafinha is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Mexican club Cafetaleros as a winger. After graduating from the youth team of

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

, Rafinha broke into the first team in 2013. After a series of loan deals, he left the club and joined

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 milli ...

in 2018.

Club career

Born in

Porto Franco Porto Franco is a municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Maranhão This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Maranhão (MA), located in the Northeast Region o ...

, Rafinha represented CFZ, CFZ Brasília and

as a youth. After winning the 2011 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, he was given the nickname "Neymar da Gávea" ( Neymar of Gávea). On 27 February 2013, he was promoted to the main team, signing a deal which would keep him at the club till 2018. His contract termination fee was set at R$130 million (approx £26 million at January 2018) for foreign clubs and R$23 million (approx £5m) for Brazilian clubs. He also thanked Zico, saying that he was grateful to him not only as a player but also as a person. Rafinha's monthly salary was increased from R$3,000 (£660) to R$20,000 (£4,400), a salary hike of 566%. Rafinha scored his first goal for ''Fla'' in a 4–2 victory against

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

. He played 44 matches in the season with his side winning the

2013 Copa do Brasil The 2013 Copa do Brasil (officially the 2013 Copa Perdigão do Brasil for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th edition of the Copa do Brasil. It began on February 27 and ended on November 27. The competition was contested by 87 teams, either qualifi ...

. On 7 January 2014, Rafinha joined

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

on a year long loan deal, which saw Feijão moving to the opposite side. In the following January he was loaned to

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

after becoming surplus to Flamengo's requirements. He made his Goiano debut against Anapolina, scoring a goal in the 1–0 victory. However, his form dipped since then and he failed to cement his position in the first team; resulting in the club releasing him on 1 July. On 4 July 2015, Rafinha was loaned to South Korean club Daejon Citizen. On 23 January 2016, he was loaned to Metropolitano. In 2017, he was loaned off again, this time on a six-month deal to Thai club Thai Honda. On 3 January 2018, Rafinha moved to

. On 24 December 2018, Rafinha moved abroad and joined Mexican club Cafetaleros.

Career statistics

Honours

;Flamengo *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafinha footballer 1993 04 1993 births Living people Men's association football forwards Brazilian men's footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players CR Flamengo footballers Esporte Clube Bahia players Club Athletico Paranaense players Clube Atlético Metropolitano players Avaí FC players K League 1 players Daejeon Hana Citizen players Thai Honda F.C. players Ascenso MX players Cafetaleros de Chiapas footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand