Rafaël Dias
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Rafaël Marques Dias Brito (born 29 January 1991), commonly known as Rafaël Dias, is a Portuguese
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 for French club Racing Besançon. Brito was born in
Covilhã Covilhã (), officially Covilhã City (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of . It is ...
, Portugal, but acquired French nationality and was a France youth international having earned caps with the under-15 and under-16 teams. Dias recently switched allegiances to his birth country
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
after joining up with the nation's under-20 team in 2010. Dias plays as an
attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
and is the son of former S.C. Covilhã player Quim Brito, as well as the nephew of former Portuguese international César Brito. He made his professional debut on 7 April 2010 in a league match against
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. On 2 September 2010, Dias signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Sochaux until June 2013.


Career


Early career

Dias was born on 7 January 1991 in
Covilhã Covilhã (), officially Covilhã City (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of . It is ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. At the age of six months, his family moved to France after his father, Quim Brito, a football player, signed with FC 4 Rivières 70, an amateur club located in Dampierre-sur-Salon in the
Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
. Dias began his football career playing for 4 Rivières at the age of five in 1996. He spent seven years at the club and, in 2003, signed youth papers with professional club
Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...
.


Sochaux

Upon his arrival to the club, Dias was inserted into the club's youth academy. He quickly rose through the ranks of the academy and established himself as one of the club's top prospects in his age group alongside fellow
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
Serdar Gürler Serdar Gürler (born 14 September 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger or forward for İstanbul Başakşehir. Born in France, he represents Turkey at international level. Career Gürler plays as an attacking midfielder ...
, striker
Cédric Bakambu Cédric Bakambu (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for La Liga club Real Betis and the DR Congo national team. Bakambu made his professional debut for Sochaux in 2010, and played 107 offi ...
, and
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
Pierrick Cros. In the 2008–09 season, Dias began appearing with the club's reserve team in the
Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...
. He made his amateur debut on 29 November 2008 in a league match against
Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...
appearing as a substitute. Dias finished the campaign with eight appearances; seven of them as a substitute. During the 2009–10 season, Dias continued to developed with the club's reserve team in the fourth division. He appeared in 15 matches scoring six goals. Also during the season, Dias was a part of the Sochaux under-19 team that reached the final of the Coupe Gambardella, the country's prestigious youth cup competition. In the lead up to the final, he scored doubles against
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
and
Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively. In the final match against
Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
at the
Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
, Sochaux were defeated 4–3 on penalties. Dias converted his penalty, however, early failed attempts by Gürler and Clément Giraud dashed the team's hopes. It was later reported by the media that scouts of English club
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
attended the game to watch Dias. Midway through the
2009–10 Ligue 1 The 2009–10 Ligue 1 season was the 72nd since its establishment. Bordeaux were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 5 June 2009, and play commenced on 8 August and ended on 15 May 2010. There were three promoted teams from L ...
season, Dias, alongside Gürler, began integrating with the first team after
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Francis Gillot announced his desire to give the club's youth talent an opportunity. On 7 April 2010, he made his professional debut in a league match against
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. Dias appeared as a substitute in the match and played 16 minutes in a 3–0 defeat. Two weeks later, he made another league appearance, again as a substitute in another 3–0 defeat, this time against
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
. Following the season, Dias spent the summer training with
Portuguese Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...
club Benfica. Benfica wanted the player to remain at the club, however, due to being under contract with Sochaux, he returned to France for pre-season training. On 2 September 2010, Dias signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Sochaux until June 2013. He was officially promoted to the senior team and assigned the number 28 shirt. Dias, however, still remains a fixture on the club's reserve team in the CFA having scored four goals in 10 appearances. His first professional appearance of the season came on 16 October in a 2–0 defeat to
Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
. In January 2014, Dias was loaned out in
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 ...
to
AC Arles-Avignon AC, A.C., A/C, or Ac often refers to: * Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C * Alternating current, a type of electrical current in which the current repeatedly changes direction AC, A.C. or Ac may also refer to: Arts and entertainment G ...
, to gain more playing time.


International

Though Dias was born in Portugal, due to living in France since he was six months old, he acquired
citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...
, thus making him eligible to represent both
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
at international level. At the age of 14, Dias represented France at under-15 level. The following year, he was called up to the under-16 team by coach Francis Smerecki. Dias appeared in two friendly matches against
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
in March 2007. Between 2007 and 2010, Dias was not selected by Smerecki for international duty. In 2010, Dias announced his intent to represent Portugal at international level and confirmed his decision by declining the opportunity to attend a training camp for future France national under-21 players. He was later selected by the Portugal under-20 team. On 7 October 2010, Dias made his debut with the under-20 team in a friendly match against
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The following month, he was called up to the team against to participate in training sessions with the team preparing for the
2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...
.


Career statistics


Club

''(Correct as of 14 December 2011)''


Notes


References


External links


Rafaël Dias profile
at fcsochaux.fr * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Rafael 1991 births Sportspeople from Covilhã Portuguese emigrants to France Living people French men's footballers Portuguese men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France France men's youth international footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players AC Arlésien players US Créteil-Lusitanos players Racing Besançon players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Footballers from Castelo Branco District Footballers from Haute-Saône 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen