Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes (born 30 March 1997), also known as Nguyễn Xuân Son or simply known as Rafaelson, is a Brazilian-Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as a striker for V.League 1 club Thep Xanh Nam Dinh.
 Rafaelson in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name |
Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes Nguyễn Xuân Son[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 30 March 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Pirapemas, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Thep Xanh Nam Dinh | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2013 | Bahia | ||
| 2013–2016 | Vitória | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2018 | Vitória | 12 | (1) |
| 2018 | → Vegalta Sendai (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Vegalta Sendai | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Næstved | 24 | (5) |
| 2020 | Nam Dinh | 18 | (6) |
| 2020–2021 | SHB Da Nang | 12 | (6) |
| 2021–2023 | Topenland Binh Dinh | 39 | (21) |
| 2023– | Thep Xanh Nam Dinh | 31 | (35) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 November 2024 | |||
Career
editVitória
editA Vitória youth graduate, Rafaelson was accused of having an illegal age in April 2015,[3] a claim which was later dismissed by the club.[4] He was promoted to the first team in September, by manager Vagner Mancini.[5]
Rafaelson made his professional debut on 5 September 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Robert in a 2–1 home loss against Botafogo for the Série B championship. His first goal came on 31 October, netting the last in a 3–2 home loss against Náutico. He contributed with seven appearances during the campaign, as his side achieved promotion to Série A.
On 30 June 2016, Rafaelson made his top tier debut, replacing Tiago Real in a 3–2 home win against Sport Recife.
Vegalta Sendai
editIn February 2018, Rafaelson joined the Japanese club Vegalta Sendai on a loan deal.[6] A month later, he made his first appearance for the team in the J.League Cup game against Albirex Niigata, but suffered a serious injury in the match that required three months of recovery.[7] In August 2020, his transfer to Vegalta Sendai was made permanent. However, in January 2019, he departed from the club after his contract expired, without having appeared any league game.[8]
Næstved
editOn 13 April 2019, Rafaelson moved to Denmark and joined Næstved.[9] He scored 5 goals after 24 league appearances for the team in two seasons.[10]
Move to Vietnam, first spell at Nam Định
editNæstved announced on 12 January 2020, that they had sold Rafaelson to Nam Định in the V.League 1.[10] After one season at Nam Định, despite his good form, the club was unable to keep him due to financial difficult, leading him to join V.League 1 fellow SHB Đà Nẵng, where he also stayed for only season.[11]
Bình Định
editIn September 2021, Rafaelson was transferred to Topenland Bình Định.[12] On 3 September 2022, he scored his first hattrick in V.League 1 in to help his team defeat the league's leading team Hanoi FC 3–0.[13] He later lead his team to the 2022 Vietnamese Cup final, scoring a hattrick in the semi-final game against Đông Á Thanh Hóa.[14] In the 2023 season, Rafaelson became the league top scorer, netting a total of 16 goals and was named in the team of the season.[15]
Return to Nam Định and dominance in V.League 1
editOn 28 August 2023, after his contract with Topenland Bình Định expired, Rafaelson made his return to Nam Định.[16] On 26 May 2024, he scored five goals in a 5–2 victory of Thép Xanh Nam Định FC against Đông Á Thanh Hóa, which tied the record for most goals scored by a single player in a single game in V.League 1 with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai's Nguyễn Đình Việt back in 2007. On 25 June 2024, Rafaelson netted a hattrick in a 5–1 league win against Khánh Hòa, thus securing the first national league title for Nam Định since 1985.[17] He finished the season as the league's top scorer with 31 goals, thus broke the record for most goals scored by a single player in a single V.League 1 season, previously held by Lê Huỳnh Đức (25 goals).[18] In addition to the top scorer award, Rafaelson was also given the "Player of the season" award and featured in the league's team of the season for the second season in a row.[19]
On 31 August 2024, Rafaelson scored a brace in the Vietnamese Super Cup final to contribute in Nam Định's 3–0 win against Đông Á Thanh Hóa, winning the trophy for the first time in the club's history.[20] For the 2024–25 V.League 1, he was registred for the league under the name Nguyễn Xuân Son, following his Vietnamese citizenship application.
Personal life
editRafaelson got married in January 2018 and have two children.[21] In August 2024, after five years of residency in the country, he applied for Vietnamese citizenship at the Nam Định Department of Justice, expressing his wish to represent the Vietnam national team.[22][23] On 20 September 2024, Rafaelson officially obtained Vietnamese citizenship.[24]
Career statistics
edit- As of match played 16 November 2024
| Club | Season | League | State League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vitória | 2015 | Série B | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2016 | Série A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Vegalta Sendai | 2018 | J1 League | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Næstved BK | 2018–19 | 1st Division | 6 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | 18 | 4 | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 4 | |||||
| Total | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5 | ||
| Nam Định | 2020 | V.League 1 | 18 | 6 | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | 19 | 8 | |||
| SHB Đà Nẵng | 2021 | 12 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 6 | ||||
| Topenland Bình Định | 2022 | 21 | 5 | — | 4 | 3 | — | — | 25 | 8 | ||||
| 2023 | 18 | 16 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 17 | |||||
| Total | 39 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 25 | ||
| Thép Xanh Nam Định | 2023–24 | V.League 1 | 25 | 31 | — | 3 | 1 | — | — | 28 | 32 | |||
| 2024–25 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 2 | 1[c] | 2 | 10 | 8 | |||
| Total | 31 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 40 | ||
| Total career | 136 | 74 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 164 | 85 | ||
- ^ Appearance in J.League Cup
- ^ Appearance in AFC Champions League Two
- ^ Appearance in Vietnamese Super Cup
Honours
editVitória
Topenland Bình Định
- Vietnamese National Cup runners-up: 2022
Thép Xanh Nam Định
Individual
- V.League 1 Top scorer: 2023, 2023–24
- V.League 1 Team of the Season: 2023, 2023–24
- V.League 1 Best player of the Year: 2023–24
References
edit- ^ "Nguyễn Xuân Son". Vietnam Professional Football. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Rafaelson". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ "Atacante do Vitória que marcou gol no BAVI sub-20 é denunciado por suposto 'gato'" [Vitória forward who scored a goal in under-20's BAVI is denounced for a supposed 'wrong age'] (in Spanish). Galáticos Online. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "Em nota, Vitória defende jogador acusado de ser 'gato'" [On a note, Vitória defend player accused of having 'wrong age'] (in Portuguese). Bahia Notícias. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "Recém-promovido ao time principal, Rafaelson avalia primeira partida como titular: "Procurei fazer o melhor"" [Newly-promoted to the first team, Rafaelson analyzes first match as a starter: "I tried to do the best"] (in Portuguese). Cenário MT. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "ECヴィトーリア（ブラジル） ラファエルソン選手 期限付き移籍加入のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Vegalta Sendai. 10 February 2018.
- ^ "仙台の新外国人FWが日本デビュー戦で全治3か月の重傷" (in Japanese). Gekisaka. 15 March 2018.
- ^ "ラファエルソン選手 契約満了のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Vegalta Sendai. 10 January 2019.
- ^ Dårlige pasninger irriterer Næstved-træner, bold.dk, 25 April 2019
- ^ a b Næstved sender brasilianer til Vietnam, bold.dk, 12 January 2020
- ^ "SHB Đà Nẵng chia tay chân sút chủ lực chỉ sau một mùa giải" (in Vietnamese). Bongda24h. 10 September 2021.
- ^ "CLB Topenland Bình Định chốt ngoại binh V-League 2022" (in Vietnamese). Công An Đà Nẵng. 29 September 2021.
- ^ "V-League 2022: Cú sốc lớn trên sân Hàng Đẫy" (in Vietnamese). Thanh Niên. 3 September 2022.
- ^ "Rafaelson đưa Topenland Bình Định vào chung kết Cúp quốc gia" (in Vietnamese). Tuổi Trẻ. 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Rafaelson trở thành " Vua phá lưới " V-League 2023" (in Vietnamese). Việt Báo. 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Vua phá lưới V.League 2023 đầu quân cho Thép Xanh Nam Định" (in Vietnamese). Bongdaplus. 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Nam Định lần đầu vô địch V-League" (in Vietnamese). VnExpress. 25 June 2024.
- ^ Hiếu Lương (26 May 2024). "Tiền đạo Nam Định phá kỷ lục ghi bàn của Lê Huỳnh Đức" (in Vietnamese). VnExpress. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "'Siêu nhân' Rafaelson xuất sắc nhất V-League, HLV Vũ Hồng Việt được vinh danh" (in Vietnamese). Thanh Niên. 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Nam Định lần đầu tiên vô địch Siêu Cúp Quốc gia 2024" (in Vietnamese). Báo Nhân Dân. 31 August 2024.
- ^ "仙台ＦＷラファエルソン加入会見「寒いのは大好き」". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 6 February 2018.
- ^ "Ngoại binh Rafaelson và khát khao khoác áo ĐT Việt Nam" (in Vietnamese). Dân Việt. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Brazilian striker, top scorer of V. League, applies for Vietnamese citizenship". VnExpress. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Brazilian prolific striker becomes Vietnamese citizen". VnExpress. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
