Rafael Veloso
Quick Facts
Biography
Rafael Henriques Vasquez Veloso (born 3 November 1993) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Icelandic club Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja.
Club career
Born in Lourinhã, Lisbon District, Veloso graduated from Sporting CP's youth system, and joined C.F. Os Belenenses for his first year as a senior after a trial in England with Blackburn Rovers. He acted as a backup to Matt Jones during his first season in a promotion to the Primeira Liga, his only appearance coming on 18 May 2013 in a 2−1 home win against S.C. Freamunde where he came on as a late substitute for Filipe Mendes; he added a further two league matches in the top level, one after replacing sent off Jones early into an eventual 2−3 home loss to C.D. Nacional also at the Estádio do Restelo.
On 25 August 2014, Veloso was loaned to Deportivo de La Coruña's reserves in a season-long deal. He returned to his homeland the following summer, signing with Clube Oriental de Lisboa in the same situation.
Veloso left Belenenses in December 2016, after terminating his contract. Afterwards, he competed in Norway with Valdres FK and in Iceland with Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja, on both occasions agreeing to two-year deals.
Match fixing scandal
On 26 May 2016, Veloso was arrested on suspicion of match fixing whilst at Oriental, which led to him being banned from playing professional football in Portugal.