Luís Rafael "Rafa" Soares Alves (born 9 May 1995) is a Portuguese 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 ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club

PAOK FC P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athlet ...

Club career

Porto

Born in

Marco de Canaveses Marco de Canaveses () is a city and municipality on Porto district, in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 53,450, in an area of 201.89 km². The city itself had a population of 9,042 in 2001. Geography The city of Marco Canav ...

Porto District The District of Porto ( pt, Distrito do Porto ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro and Viseu districts to the south, B ...

, Soares joined

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

's youth system in 2005 from local

F.C. Alpendorada Futebol Clube de Alpendorada ''(abbreviated as FC Alpendorada)'' is a Portuguese football club based in Alpendorada, Marco de Canaveses in the district of Porto. Background FC Alpendorada currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal which is ...

. On 21 August 2013, while still a junior, he made his professional debut with the former's B reserves, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute in a 1–0 away win against Portimonense S.C. in the Segunda Liga. From January 2016 to June 2017, Soares was on loan to Académica de Coimbra and Rio Ave FC, with both clubs in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

. He played his first game in the competition on 22 January 2016 while at service of the former in a 2–1 away loss to Vitória de Setúbal, and scored his first goal the following matchday but in a 3–2 defeat at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

. On 22 August 2017, deemed surplus to requirements by new Porto manager Sérgio Conceição, Soares was loaned to

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

side

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

in a

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-long deal. He made his debut on 31 October, coming from the bench in a 0–2 home loss to Bristol City. Soares' deal was mutually terminated by on 31 January 2018, after they had loaned Matt Targett earlier that month. The same day, he signed a permanent contract with Portimonense in his country's top flight.

Vitória Guimarães

On 6 July 2018, Soares agreed to a contract at Vitória de Guimarães. On 31 January 2020, he joined

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

of Spain's

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

on an 18-month loan with the option to buy. After returning from the relegated Basque team, Soares scored his first Vitória goal on 21 November 2021, as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat at neighbours Moreirense F.C. in the fourth round of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seas ...

PAOK

In June 2022, Soares signed a three-year deal with

club

Club statistics

Honours

Porto B *

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pri ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

* *
National team data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Rafa 1995 births Living people People from Marco de Canaveses Sportspeople from Porto District Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto B players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Rio Ave F.C. players Portimonense S.C. players Vitória S.C. players English Football League players Fulham F.C. players La Liga players SD Eibar footballers Super League Greece players PAOK FC players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece