Rafael Pereira da Silva (born 9 July 1990), commonly known as Rafael or Rafael da Silva, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir. He and his twin brother, Fábio, began their careers with Fluminense before joining Manchester United in January 2007. Rafael has two caps for Brazil, having made his debut in a 3–1 victory over Denmark on 26 May 2012. He was part of the silver medal-winning under-23 side at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Rafael joined Lyon in August 2015 for a fee of up to £2. 5 million.
About Rafael (footballer, born 1990) in brief
Rafael Pereira da Silva (born 9 July 1990), commonly known as Rafael or Rafael da Silva, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir. He and his twin brother, Fábio, began their careers with Fluminense before joining Manchester United in January 2007. Rafael has two caps for Brazil, having made his debut in a 3–1 victory over Denmark on 26 May 2012. He was part of the silver medal-winning under-23 side at the 2012 Summer Olympics. After eight years in England, Rafael joined Lyon in August 2015 for a fee of up to £2. 5 million. He normally plays as a right-back, but can also play on the right side of midfield. Rafael was born in Petrópolis, approximately one hour’s drive away from Rio de Janeiro, and began playing football from the age of five. He began his career with amateur side Boa Esperança, playing as a striker. In 2005, Rafael was spotted by Manchester United scout Les Kershaw, who remarked that the twins reminded him of \”two little whippets\”. Kershaw then telephoned Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and recommended that the club sign the Silva twins.
The twins moved to Manchester in January 2008, but were unable to play in matches until they turned 18 in July 2008. Rafael made his competitive debut for Manchester United on the opening day of the 2008–09 Premier League season, replacing Fraizer Campbell in their 1–1 home draw against Newcastle United on 17 August. On 30 December 2010, Rafael scored the second goal of his career and the first at Old Trafford in a 5–0 league win over Wigan Athletic. On 27 October 2009, Rafael’s brother, Rafael, was booked for a foul by Rafael’s twin brother Fá bio. The two were shortlisted as nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, however, they were beaten to the award by Aston Villa’s Ashley Villa. On 19 April 2009, in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton, Rafael and his identical twin, Rafael started a match together for Man Utd for the first time. On 23 September, Rafael made first start in European competition in United’s 3–0 away win over Aalborg BK in the UEFA Champions League on 30 September.
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