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Rafael Alexandre "Rafa" Fernandes Ferreira da Silva ComM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁafɐ ˈsiɫvɐ]; born 17 May 1993) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Benfica and the Portugal national team as an attacking midfielder.
After starting his professional career at Feirense he transferred to Braga in 2013 and went on to make over 100 appearances for them, winning the 2016 Portuguese Cup. He joined Benfica in 2016, winning two Primeira Liga championships during his spell.
A full international since 2014, Silva represented Portugal at the 2014 World Cup, Euro 2016 and 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, winning the latter two tournaments.
Club career
Feirense
Born in Forte da Casa, Vila Franca de Xira, Silva started playing football with Atlético Povoense and F.C. Alverca, both in the Lisbon District. In 2011, aged 18, he signed with C.D. Feirense with which he played his last year as a junior.
Silva made his professional debut on 29 July 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win against F.C. Penafiel for the season's Taça da Liga. He only missed one game in the league campaign, totalling more than 3,200 minutes of action to help his team finish 13th in the Segunda Liga.
Braga
In June 2013, Silva signed a five-year contract with S.C. Braga for an undisclosed fee. On 10 November he scored his first goals, striking twice in a 3–1 win at S.C. Olhanense in the fourth round of the Taça de Portugal; nineteen days later he scored for the first time in the league, in a 4–1 home win over the same opposition. He finished his first year with 23 appearances and three goals to help to a ninth-place finish.
The following season, Silva was ever-present in the league, starting all but one game. He scored three times in the 2014–15 Taça de Portugal, including one in the final which they lost in a penalty shootout to Sporting CP at the Estádio Nacional on 31 May 2015.
Silva scored the only goal on his UEFA Europa League debut on 17 September 2015 to defeat FC Slovan Liberec away, and added two further goals in a run to the quarter-finals. After a 2015–16 season in which Braga won the cup final against FC Porto, he was coveted by S.L. Benfica.
Benfica
On 1 September 2016, defending champions Benfica announced that Silva had signed a five-year contract with the club, in a deal totalling €16.4 million. His release clause was set at €60 million. He made his debut eight days later, starting in a 2–1 win at F.C. Arouca.
In his 14th game, on 22 January 2017, as a late substitute for Kostas Mitroglou, Silva scored his first goal for the team in a 4–0 win over C.D. Tondela at the Estádio da Luz. In that season, he also played seven minutes in the final of the domestic cup, won after defeating Vitória de Guimarães 2–1.
Silva scored his ninth league goal of 2018–19 on 2 March 2019, in a 2–1 away victory against Porto; Benfica leapfrogged the opposition and took first place with ten rounds remaining. He ended the season with a career-best 17 league goals, bettered only by teammate Haris Seferović (23 goals) and Bruno Fernandes (20) in the whole division.
On 4 August 2019, Silva scored the opening goal of a 5–0 win for Benfica in the 2019 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, against city rivals Sporting at the Estádio Algarve.
International career
Silva made his first appearance for the Portugal under-20 team on 23 April 2013, against Uzbekistan. He was not selected to that year's FIFA U-20 World Cup.
On 28 February 2014, Silva received his first callup for the senior side, for an exhibition game with Cameroon on 5 March. He played the first 45 minutes of the game, in a 5–1 win in Leiria.
On 19 May 2014, Silva was named in the final 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He remained unused as Portugal were knocked out in the group stage.
After scoring in both games against Azerbaijan in qualification, Silva was part of the under-21 team that finished as runners-up at the 2015 UEFA European Championship in the Czech Republic. He returned to the full side for UEFA Euro 2016, making his debut in the competition on 18 June by coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Nani in a 0–0 draw with Austria at the Parc des Princes.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 23 June 2020
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Feirense | 2012–13 | Segunda Liga | 41 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 47 | 11 | ||
| Braga | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 23 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 32 | 9 | |
| 2014–15 | 34 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 5 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 30 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 3 | — | 50 | 12 | |||
| 2016–17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 88 | 13 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 127 | 26 | ||
| Benfica | 2016–17 | Primeira Liga | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 2 |
| 2017–18 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 | ||
| 2018–19 | 26 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 0 | — | 44 | 21 | |||
| 2019–20 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 10 | ||
| Total | 85 | 28 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 129 | 36 | ||
| Career total | 214 | 51 | 31 | 11 | 23 | 5 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 303 | 73 | ||
Notes
International
- As of match played 10 September 2019
| Portugal | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 17 | 0 |
Honours
Club
Braga
- Taça de Portugal: 2015–16
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 2016
Benfica
- Primeira Liga: 2016–17, 2018–19
- Taça de Portugal: 2016–17
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2017, 2019
International
Portugal
- UEFA European Championship: 2016
- UEFA Nations League: 2018–19
Orders
- Commander of the Order of Merit
