*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 November 2024
Rafael Scapini de Almeida (born 29 June 1982), commonly known as Rafinha (Portuguese pronunciation:[ʁɐˈfĩɲɐ]), is a Brazilian football coach and a former professional footballer. He is currently working as an assistant coach of Veikkausliiga club AC Oulu. Besides Brazil, he has played in Finland and Belgium.[1] During his career, Rafinha was deployed on different positions on the field, having started as a winger, moving on to midfield and ending his career as a centre back.
Rafinha is considered a club legend of AC Oulu, the club he has represented in multiple seasons.[2]
Career
Rafinha started playing football in his native Brazil. He worked as a storage worker and played in lower amateur divisions in Campinas.[3]
In March 2005, he moved to Finland and after a successful trial, he signed with AC Oulu in second-tier Ykkönen.[4] He was named the Ykkönen Player of the Year in 2006. In the 2007 season, Rafinha debuted in Finnish top-tier Veikkausliiga, after AC Oulu had won a promotion in 2006. During 2008–2009, he played in Veikkausliiga for Tampere United, and in 2010 and 2011, he won two Finnish championship titles with HJK, and additionally the Finnish Cup in 2011.
He was acquired by Belgian club Gent in 2011 for an undisclosed fee.[5] In 2016, after five seasons, one Belgian championship title and six UEFA Champions League group stage appearances with Gent, Rafinha returned to Finland and signed with HJK. He went on winning two more championship titles with HJK, in 2017 and 2018, and Finnish Cup in 2017. He also captained the HJK team.[6]
In 2020, Rafinha returned to AC Oulu, his first club in Finland.[7] Three years later, after having helped the club to establish themselves in Veikkausliiga, he announced the ending of his professional career, at the age of 40.[8] However, next 2023 season he played for Oulun Luistinseura (OLS), the reserve team of AC Oulu in third-tier Kakkonen, and worked as an assistant coach on a player-coach contract.[9]
Coaching career
On 26 November 2023, Rafinha was appointed as a full-time assistant coach of the reserve team OLS.[10]
Since 2024, he is working as an assistant coach of AC Oulu.[11]
Personal life
Rafinha is married with a Finnish woman with whom he has two children.[12]
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