Rafael "Rafa" Jesús Navarro Mazuecos (born 24 February 1994) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Italian

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

club Ugento.

Club career

Born in

Salteras Salteras is a city in the Province of Seville, Spain. It has a population of 11,854 inhabitants (2018 INE). It borders Olivares to the west, Gerena to the northwest, Guillena to the north, La Algaba to the northeast, Valencina to the east and ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Navarro represented

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

Coria CF Coria Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Coria del Río, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1923, it plays in , holding home matches at Estadio Guadalquivir with a capacity of 5,000 seats. History In the 2017 ...

and

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

as a youth. He made his senior debut with the latter's B-team on 2 December 2012, starting in a 2–3 home loss against

CD San Roque de Lepe Club Deportivo San Roque de Lepe, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Lepe, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1956 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Ciudad de Lepe'', with a capacity of 3,512 seats. Season ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. On 2 August 2013, Navarro signed for CD Gerena of the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. He was an undisputed starter for the club during the campaign, and subsequently returned to Betis and its reserve team on 4 July 2014. Navarro featured regularly for Betis B in the following seasons, and renewed his contract with the club until 2020 on 13 June 2016. On 24 August, he was definitely promoted to the main squad and was assigned the number 2 shirt. Navarro made his professional – and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

– debut on 23 September 2016, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home win against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. His first goal in the category came on the following 18 March, netting the last in a 2–0 home success over

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. On 2 July 2018, Navarro signed a three-year contract with fellow top-tier club

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

, being immediately loaned to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a Football in France, French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Championnat N ...

for one year. Upon returning, he spent the entire 2019–20 campaign unregistered before joining affiliate side

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 (), commonly referred to as Istra 1961, is a Croatian professional football club based in Pula, that competes in the Croatian First League. It is a common opinion amongst many people that ''Istra 1961'' was founded i ...

on loan on 5 October 2020.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

*
Beticopedia profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro, Rafa 1994 births Living people Footballers from Aljarafe Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Primera Federación players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers CD Internacional de Fútbol Sevilla Dos Hermanas players Real Betis players Deportivo Alavés players UD San Sebastián de los Reyes players Ligue 2 players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players NK Istra 1961 players Serie D players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Spanish sportsmen