Rafael Garcia Tonioli Defendi (born 22 December 1983) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

for Farense in

Liga Portugal 2 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 Pr ...

Career

Born in

Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a municipality and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil. Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-largest municipality in the State wi ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Defendi passed through

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

and

Santos F.C. Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals in ...

youth systems, in his early career. In 2007, he made his first move abroad and joined C.D. Aves, making his professional debut on 18 August 2007 in a 2–1 home loss against S.C. Olhanense. He only added six league appearances throughout the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

before returning to Brazil. After several years in his home country, mostly at the regional level, in July 2014, Defendi returned to Portugal, joining Paços de Ferreira, being first choice most of the season, battling with António Filipe for the position. On 9 July 2018, Defendi signed a two-year deal with

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 ...

side F.C. Famalicão. He played all but one game in his first season as they finished runners-up and were promoted to the top flight after a 25-year absence; on 3 March 2019 he and Capela were sent off in a 1–1 home draw with FC Porto B.

Personal life

He is the older brother of Rodrigo Defendi, also a professional footballer.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Defendi, Rafael 1983 births Living people People from Ribeirão Preto Brazilian footballers Brazilian people of Italian descent Association football goalkeepers Esporte Clube Noroeste players Comercial Futebol Clube (Ribeirão Preto) players C.D. Aves players Sertãozinho Futebol Clube players Mirassol Futebol Clube players Grêmio Osasco Audax Esporte Clube players Clube Atlético Bragantino players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players F.C. Famalicão players S.C. Farense players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Footballers from São Paulo (state)