Rafael dos Santos Lacerda (; born 12 June 1984) is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player who played as a

central defender 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 ...

Playing career

Born in

São Leopoldo São Leopoldo () (Portuguese for ''Saint Leopold'') is a Brazilian industrial city located in the south state of Rio Grande do Sul. Geography It occupies a total area of 103.9 km2 (around 80 km2 urban area) at ''circa'' 30 km fr ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, Lacerda began his career with local

Ulbra The Lutheran University of Brazil (Portuguese: or ULBRA) is a university with campuses in several states throughout Brazil. History The university has its roots in the parish school of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Canoas (CELSP), in Canoas, ...

, and continued to appear in his native state until 2008, representing Brasil de Farroupilha and Sapucaiense. After a brief period in

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

, playing for Toledo CW, he returned to Sapucaiense, and signed with Caxias shortly after. In August 2009 Lacerda signed with

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

. In June of the following year, he finally left his native region and signed with Luverdense. After loan stints to

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(where he failed to make a single appearance) and

Red Bull Brasil Red Bull Bragantino II was a professional association football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil. The team last played in the Campeonato Paulista Série A3, the third tier of the São Paulo state football league, before reque ...

, Lacerda returned to Caxias in December 2011. On 15 May 2012 Lacerda signed with Série B side

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

. He made his professional debut on 7 July, starting in a 3–3 away draw against

Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino () is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, the highest level ...

, and contributed with six appearances (five starts) as his side achieved promotion as champions. On 6 September 2013, after just one match for Goiás during the year, Lacerda signed with Portuguesa. After only one unused substitute appearance, he was presented at Paysandu on 4 February 2014. After a spell at

Aimoré The Aimoré ''(Aymore, Aimboré)'' are one of several Indigenous peoples in Brazil, South American peoples of eastern Brazil called Botocudo in Portuguese (from ''botoque'', a plug), in allusion to the wooden disks or tembetás worn in their li ...

, Lacerda returned to Caxias for his third spell in July 2015. After leaving the latter at the end of the 2016 season, he moved to São Paulo-RS. On 28 July 2017,

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

club

Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang Wa ...

announced on Facebook that they had signed Lacerda. However, he left the club the following month, and signed for São Luiz. On 1 February 2018,

Concórdia Concórdia is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It was founded by colonizers of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, basically descendants of Italians and Germans, who immigrated to Brazil in the 19th century. It is located 480 km west o ...

confirmed the signing of Lacerda. He then played in the year's

Copa FGF The Copa Federação Gaúcha de Futebol, commonly known as the Copa FGF, is an annual cup competition organized by the Rio Grande do Sul Federação Gaúcha de Futebol, state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and third d ...

for Aimoré before retiring at the age of 34.

Coaching career

Shortly after retiring, Lacerda returned to his first club Caxias as an assistant coach, before being named head coach of the side on 30 July 2019. He left the post on 9 May 2021, after the club's elimination from the

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

. On 27 July 2021, Lacerda was appointed head coach of another club he represented as a player, Aimoré. He left the club by mutual consent the following 14 March, and took over Amazonas twelve days later. Lacerda led Amazonas to a first-ever promotion to the Série C, and won the

2023 Campeonato Amazonense The 2023 Campeonato Amazonense was the 107th edition of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas' top professional football league. The competition started on 28 January and ended on 22 April. Amazonas Futebol Clube, Amazonas won the championship for ...

with the club, their first title in the top tier. On 11 September 2023, after losing the first two matches of the 2023 Série C second stage, he was dismissed. On 25 November 2023, Lacerda was confirmed as head coach of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

for the upcoming season. He left the club by mutual consent the following 10 March, and was announced at the helm of Barra-SC on 2 April 2024. On 24 May 2024, Lacerda left Barra after paying for his release clause by himself, and was announced back at Amazonas just hours later. On 19 November, after avoiding relegation, he left by mutual consent, and took over fellow second division side Vila Nova seven days later. Despite winning the

2025 Campeonato Goiano The 2025 Campeonato Goiano (officially the GOIANÃO 1XBET 2025 for sponsorship reasons) is the 82nd edition of Goiás's top professional football league organized by FGF. The competition began on 15 January and scheduled to conclude in April 2025. ...

, Lacerda was sacked by Vila on 11 June 2025.

Honours

Player

Ulbra * Campeonato Gaúcho Segunda Divisão: 2003 Sapucaiense * Campeonato Gaúcho Segunda Divisão: 2007 Joinville *

Copa Santa Catarina The Copa Santa Catarina () is a tournament organized by the Santa Catarina State Football Federation every second half of the season. It is played by Santa Catarina state teams. The competition's winner gains the right to compete in the same yea ...

: 2009 Goiás *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Coach

Amazonas *

Campeonato Amazonense The Campeonato Amazonense de Futebol, also commonly known as the Barezão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that r ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Vila Nova *

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders th ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacerda, Rafael 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from São Leopoldo Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Canoas Sport Club players Sociedade Esportiva Recreativa e Cultural Brasil players Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul players Toledo Esporte Clube players Joinville Esporte Clube players Luverdense Esporte Clube players Red Bull Bragantino II players Goiás Esporte Clube players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Paysandu Sport Club players Clube Esportivo Aimoré players Sport Club São Paulo players Esporte Clube São Luiz players Concórdia Atlético Clube players Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série C managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série D managers Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul managers Clube Esportivo Aimoré managers Amazonas Futebol Clube managers ABC Futebol Clube managers Vila Nova Futebol Clube managers 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen