Rafael de Souza Pereira (18 June 1989), known as Rafael Carioca, is a Brazilian 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

defensive 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. ...

Club career

Grêmio

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Rafael Carioca joined Grêmio's youth setup in 2006, from Profute. Promoted to the first team after captaining the under-20 side in the 2008

Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior The Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior (or ''São Paulo Youth Football Cup'', in English), also known as Copa São Paulo de Juniores (''São Paulo Youth Cup'') and Copinha (''Little Cup''), is a cup competition played by Brazilian under-20 assoc ...

Vágner Mancini Vagner do Carmo Mancini (born 24 October 1966) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of Goiás. Playing career Born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Mancini started ...

, he was subsequently relegated back to the youth sides, as the manager complained about his attitude. Promoted back to the main squad in March 2008 by new manager

Celso Roth Celso Juarez Roth (born 30 November 1957) is a Brazilian football coach and former player who played as a central defender. Coaching career On 4 May 2009, the former Grêmio coach joined Atlético Mineiro until the end of the season, he rep ...

, Rafael Carioca made his first team debut on 26 March, coming on as a substitute for Nunes in a 4–1

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 ...

away routing of 15 de Novembro. He made his Série A debut on 10 May, starting in a 1–0 away win against

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, and finished the campaign as a first-choice in the central midfield, creating a strong partnership with William Magrão and appearing in 34 matches.

Spartak Moscow

In December 2008, Rafael Carioca joined Russian club

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

on a five-year contract. He made his debut abroad on 15 March, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

. Rafael Carioca spent the 2010 season on loan at

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

, being an undisputed starter. Upon returning, he also became a first-choice, and scored his first professional goal on 6 May 2012, netting the winner in a 3–2 away defeat of Zenit.

Atlético Mineiro

On 13 August 2014, Rafael Carioca returned to his home country after being presented at

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, agreeing to a year-long loan deal. Upon arriving, he became a first-choice player in Atlético's team that went on to win that year's

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

, overcoming longtime incumbent . Rafael Carioca had a solid start in the following season, which included an impressive goal against

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

and a

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

win, again as a part of the team's starting eleven. On 21 July 2015, Atlético bought 50% of Rafael Carioca's federative rights, agreeing to a permanent four-year deal.

Tigres UANL

On 25 August 2017, Rafael Carioca joined

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

. In his first season, he played the historical final against rivals

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados, A.C., simply known as Monterrey or by its nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, that plays in Liga MX, the top d ...

. In the first leg the teams tied by 1–1 at the Estadio Universitario. In the

Estadio BBVA Bancomer Estadio BBVA, formerly known as the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, is an association football stadium in Guadalupe, Greater Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Nicknamed "El Gigante de Acero" in Spanish (), the stadium replaced the Estadio Tecnológico as th ...

, Tigres beat Monterrey by 2–1 with goals of Edu Vargas and Francisco Meza, as Rafael Carioca played a key role by assisting Meza with a cross from the right wing to score the second goal. Besides, in a successful six-year career so far with Tigres, he has won the 2018 and 2023

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

; 2020

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

; 2020

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

and Clausura 2019 and Clausura 2023 season of the Mexican League, besides, runner-ups of the 2020

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. On 23 May 2025, Tigres UANL bid farewell to Carioca.

International career

In 2007, Rafael Carioca captained the Brazil under-20 side and featured in the Sendai Cup for the under-18s in the same year, but was an unused substitute in the tournament. He received his first international call-up for the senior squad on 22 August 2016, for matches against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Career statistics

Honours

Atlético Mineiro *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Tigres UANL *

: Apertura 2017, Clausura 2019, Clausura 2023 *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ...

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

Team of the Tournament:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carioca, Rafael 1989 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Grêmio FBPA players CR Vasco da Gama players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Russian Premier League players FC Spartak Moscow players Liga MX players Tigres UANL footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Brazilian expatriates in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen