Rafael Carioca
Brazilian footballer
Rafael de Souza Pereira (18 June 1989), known as Rafael Carioca, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.
Club career
Grêmio
Born in Rio de Janeiro, 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 by Vágner Mancini, 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, Rafael Carioca made his first team debut on 26 March, coming on as a substitute for Nunes in a 4–1 Campeonato Gaúcho 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, 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 on a five-year contract. He made his debut abroad on 15 March, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Rafael Carioca spent the 2010 season on loan at Vasco da Gama, 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, agreeing to a year-long loan deal.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rafael Carioca” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.