Rafael da Silva (; born 4 April 1992) is a Brazilian 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 Série A club Cruzeiro.

Early life

Rafael was born in São Paulo.

Club career

Rafael Silva started his professional football career with

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

side Coritiba in the 2012 league season. He would make his debut on 8 April 2012 against Cianorte in the

Campeonato Paranaense Campeonato Paranaense, which has been contested since 1915, is the top-flight football league of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Format The format has changed in 2014. 12 teams are together in a single group. They play against each other once, ...

in a 3–1 victory. This would be followed by his first goal for the club on 29 April 2012 against

Roma Apucarana Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a st ...

in the Campeonato Paranaense in a 3–1 win. Rafael joined Albirex Niigata in August 2014 from

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

club

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away loss to

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

on 20 September 2014. He scored his first goal for the club against Kawasaki Frontale on 5 October. After three seasons with Albirex Niigata he would move to another Japanese club in

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

where in his debut season he immediately established himself as a vital member of the team that went on to win the

2017 AFC Champions League The 2017 AFC Champions League was the 36th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 15th under the current AFC Champions League title. Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal ...

. On 3 February 2018, Rafael transferred to second tier Chinese football club

Wuhan Zall Wuhan Yangtze River Football Club, formerly Wuhan Zall Football Club (), is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in ...

. He would make his debut and score his first goal for the club on 11 March 2018 in a league game against

Shanghai Shenxin Shanghai Shenxin Football Club () was a professional football club that participated in China's football league system between 2003 and 2019 under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Jinshan District, Shangha ...

in a 1–0 victory. He would go on to establish himself as a vital member of the team and he would win the division as well as gaining promotion at the end of the

2018 China League One Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short s ...

campaign.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Coritiba *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 ...

;Urawa Red Diamonds *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

;Wuhan Zall *

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 ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

* *
Profile at Albirex NiigataProfile at Urawa Reds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Rafael 1992 births Living people Footballers from São Paulo Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players FC Lugano players Albirex Niigata players Urawa Red Diamonds players Wuhan Yangtze River F.C. players Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Paranaense players Swiss Challenge League players J1 League players China League One players Chinese Super League players K League 1 players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea