Rafael (footballer, born 1978)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rafael Pires Vieira | ||
| Date of birth | August 1, 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Criciúma, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | FC Lahti | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997 | HJK Helsinki | 21 | (11) |
| 1998-1999 | FC Jazz | 31 | (7) |
| 1999-2000 | HJK Helsinki | 32 | (19) |
| 2000–2002 | SC Heerenveen | 6 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Denizlispor | 0 | (0) |
| 2004 | FJK | 21 | (17) |
| 2005– | FC Lahti | 250 | (103) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 December 2014 | |||
Rafael Pires Vieira (born August 1, 1978), better known simply as Rafael, is a Brazilian football center forward. He has been one of the most prolific strikers in the Finnish Veikkausliiga.
He is the top goalscorer in the history of FC Lahti, as well one of the best scorers of all time in the Veikkausliiga. He is nicknamed "Angel" in a reference to the famous Finnish song "Rafaelin enkeli" ("Rafael's Angel") by Pekka Ruuska.
Rafael is a popular sportsman in Finland and currently receives corporate sponsorship from PlanMill, a Finnish software company based in Lahti and Espoo, Finland.
Honours
- Veikkausliiga (1997) - champion
- Finnish League Cup (1997, 2007)
- Veikkausliiga - leading scorer 1997, 2007
References
 |
External links
  | This biographical article relating to Finnish football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Categories:
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Brazilian footballers
- Brazilian expatriate footballers
- Association football forwards
- Veikkausliiga players
- FC Lahti players
- Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players
- SC Heerenveen players
- Denizlispor footballers
- Brazilian expatriates in Finland
- FC Jazz players
- Expatriate footballers in Finland
- Finnish football biography stubs