Rafa Soares
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Luís Rafael Soares Alves[1] | |||||||||||||||
Date of birth | [1] | 9 May 1995|||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Marco de Canaveses, Portugal[1] | |||||||||||||||
Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Left back | |||||||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | Vitória Guimarães | |||||||||||||||
Number | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
2003–2005 | Alpendorada | |||||||||||||||
2005–2014 | Porto | |||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
2013–2018 | Porto B | 61 | (8) | |||||||||||||
2016 | → Académica (loan) | 15 | (1) | |||||||||||||
2016–2017 | → Rio Ave (loan) | 32 | (3) | |||||||||||||
2017–2018 | → Fulham (loan) | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2018 | Portimonense | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2018– | Vitória Guimarães | 52 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2020–2021 | → Eibar (loan) | 25 | (0) | |||||||||||||
National team | ||||||||||||||||
2010–2011 | Portugal U16 | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2011–2012 | Portugal U17 | 12 | (1) | |||||||||||||
2012 | Portugal U18 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2012–2014 | Portugal U19 | 30 | (2) | |||||||||||||
2014 | Portugal U20 | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2014–2016 | Portugal U21 | 9 | (0) | |||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:40, 17 January 2022 (UTC) |
Luís Rafael "Rafa" Soares Alves (born 9 May 1995) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left back for Vitória de Guimarães.
Club career[]
Born in Marco de Canaveses, Porto District, Soares joined FC Porto's youth system in 2005 from local F.C. Alpendorada. 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.[2]
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.[3][4] 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,[5] and scored his first goal the following matchday but in a 3–2 defeat at Sporting CP.[6]
On 22 August 2017, deemed surplus to requirements by new Porto manager Sérgio Conceição, Soares was loaned to EFL Championship side Fulham in a season-long deal.[7] He made his debut on 31 October, coming from the bench in a 0–2 home loss to Bristol City.[8]
Soares' loan deal was mutually terminated by on 31 January 2018, after they had loaned Matt Targett earlier that month.[9] The same day, he signed a permanent deal with Portimonense in his country's top flight.[10]
On 6 July 2018, Soares agreed to a contract at Vitória de Guimarães.[11] On 31 January 2020, he joined SD Eibar of Spain's La Liga on an 18-month loan with the option to buy.[12] After returning from the relegated Basque team, he 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.[13]
Club statistics[]
- As of match played 16 January 2020[14]
Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Porto B | 2013–14 | Segunda Liga | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
2014–15 | 30 | 2 | — | — | — | 30 | 2 | |||||
2015–16 | 20 | 5 | — | — | — | 20 | 5 | |||||
Total | 61 | 8 | — | — | — | 61 | 8 | |||||
Académica (loan) | 2015–16 | Primeira Liga | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 1 | |
Rio Ave (loan) | 2016–17 | Primeira Liga | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 37 | 3 |
Fulham (loan) | 2017–18 | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Portimonense | 2017–18 | Primeira Liga | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Vitória Guimarães | 2018–19 | Primeira Liga | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
2019–20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
Career Total | 158 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 172 | 12 |
- ^ Appearances in the Europa League
References[]
- ^ a b c d "Rafa Soares" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Portimonense-FC Porto B, 0–1: O "miúdo" deu 3 pontos" [Portimonense-FC Porto B, 0–1: The "kid" gave 3 points]. Record (in Portuguese). 21 August 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ "Oficial: Académica anuncia Rafa por empréstimo do FC Porto" [Official: Académica announce Rafa on loan from FC Porto] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ "Dragões emprestam Rafa ao Rio Ave" [Dragons loan Rafa to Rio Ave] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ "V. Setúbal-Académica, 2–1 (resultado final)" [V. Setúbal-Académica, 2–1 (final score)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Sporting 3–2 Académica: jogo pleno de emoções, muitos golos e incerteza até perto do fim" [Sporting 3–2 Académica: game full of excitement, many goals and uncertainty until the last minutes] (in Portuguese). Vavel. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Rafa Soares: Fulham complete loan signing of Porto left-back". BBC Sport. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ "Fulham 0–2 Bristol City". BBC Sport. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- ^ "Soares loan terminated". Fulham F.C. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Rafa Soares assina pelo Portimonense a título definitivo" [Rafa Soares signs permanently with Portimonense]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 31 January 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "Rafa Soares ruma ao Vitória de Guimarães" [Rafa Soares heading to Vitória de Guimarães]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "El Eibar ficha al lateral izquierdo Rafa Soares procedente del Vitoria Guimaraes" [Eibar sign left-back Rafa Soares from Vitória Guimarães]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 31 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Moreirense elimina V. Guimarães da Taça" [Moreirense eliminate V. Guimarães from the Cup] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ Rafa Soares at Soccerway
External links[]
- Rafa Soares at ForaDeJogo
- Rafa Soares at BDFutbol
- National team data (in Portuguese)
- 1995 births
- Living people
- People from Marco de Canaveses
- 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
- Portugal youth international footballers
- Portugal under-21 international footballers
- Portuguese expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
- Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England
- Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain