For a short period of time that no Leeds United fan will forget, Raphinha lit up Elland Road and indeed the Premier League with his play for the Whites. A move to Barcelona followed where he has reached new heights, while establishing himself as a key player for the Brazil national team.
Back in 2021 LeedsLive charted Raphinha's path to Elland Road. This is our interview from then as we profiled a superstar and new Leeds terrace hero.
Eduardo Belloli has seen a new flash of colour on his walks around the shanty towns of the Restinga slum in Porto Alegre. There are new streaks of white, green and maroon around the neighbourhood celebrating a passion which has united the community.
‘Raphinha 18’ is the emblem they share on their backs, a homage to the young boy who escaped the dangerous clutches of life on the wrong side of the tracks in Brazil. Leeds United’s latest fan club has blossomed in this underprivileged, densely populated suburb of Porto Alegre where earning potential is low, the crime rate is high and Raphinha’s story is an inspiration.
Belloli, Raphinha’s uncle, is talking to LeedsLive about Projeto Vencedor, the charity his nephew has used as a vehicle for helping the disadvantaged children of Restinga. Only a decade ago, Raphinha himself was one of those children he is now helping in the neighbourhood. He had to overcome setbacks, distractions and crime to become the beacon he has in the world’s most-watched football league.
“Raphael got involved in the project after he went to Portugal when he started playing for Vitória de Guimarães, as he became a reference for the neighbourhood boys who dream of being a football player like him,” Belloli tells me. “Raphael, over time, when he comes to Brazil whenever he can, he goes to the project to lecture to the boys.
“He encourages them not to give up on their dreams and also to make good choices in their lives, so as not to get in the way of crime, of using drugs, drug trafficking, violence and several other things that surround the lives of these boys who live in a needy neighbourhood like Restinga.
“He shows there are other options in life. My brother, father of Raphael, and his wife, mother of Raphael, are always helping the project as volunteers and with specific actions and help. Raphael is certainly an inspiration for Porto Alegre and a good reference.”
Eduardo Belloli (far left) with Raphinha in Brazil on Projeto Vencedor business
Eduardo Belloli (far left) with Raphinha in Brazil on Projeto Vencedor business
While the glitz and glamour of Raphinha’s current destination is enough to turn heads across television screens in his home town, his journey is just as inspiring. The 24-year-old was a typical example of a Brazilian boy born with a ball at his feet, desperate to express himself with it at every waking hour.
“Since he was young, he has always been talented, he started playing for teams in the neighbourhood,” said Belloli. “He saw this was his dream and always pursued it with the encouragement of his family, faced several difficulties to get where he was, but he never gave up on his goals. He loves it, playing football and with it making many people happy.”
For all the talent we have seen at Elland Road on a weekly basis in the 12 months since he signed you would assume Raphinha walked into his nearest professional football club and was signed up at the age of six. This could not be further from the truth, which centred on a classic tale of a passionate youngster shown the cruel, ruthless world of the football industry from an early age.
As a youth, Raphinha had trials with Porto Alegre’s two main clubs: Internacional and Gremio, where the city’s most famous son, Ronaldinho, began. Neither wanted him. Like so many of the world’s best footballers, Raphinha was too small and too skinny at that point. He would go on to prove them wrong.
The youngster would go on pursuing his dream while he saw other boys in Restinga turn to crime and drugs. Imbituba is a port some 240 miles north of Porto Alegre. A teenage Raphinha would travel there to play on a regular basis before he was ultimately spotted by Avai, the now second-tier club.
Diogo Fernandes is the man who arguably changed the course of Raphinha’s life when he went down to one Imbituba match off the back of a recommendation from a friend, Andre Dias. “A great friend of mine told me he saw a game of his playing for Imbituba, a club here in Santa Catarina,” Fernandes tells me, as he takes a break between keeping an eye on Avai's next generation at their Florianopolis base. "When I went to see the athlete I really fell in love with the player and brought him to Avai.”
And what are Fernandes’s abiding memories of that first time he set eyes on him: “I remember he was exactly aggressive in one v ones, very technical, dribbling in speed and great finishing power.”
Fernandes is a professional football coordinator with Avai and joined the outfit in 2004 initially as a youth coach before effectively leading the youth department when he saw Raphinha in 2014. Avai is a club which yo-yos between Brazil’s first and second tiers, like a Norwich City or a West Bromwich Albion in England.
It’s a club which has long relied on its domestic recruitment, but this was proper, competitive football Raphinha was walking into as an 18-year-old. Livelihoods are on the line with Avai. Players are playing not only for their jobs, but the jobs and future prospects of the staff. Raphinha was only going to get his chance when he was ready. It proved a difficult first year for the winger, now trying to find his way in a new environment 300 miles from his family in Restinga.
“In the first moment with the under-20 team he took a long time to come out and he only stayed at the club because we knew of the potential and he needed to adapt since he wasn't repeating what we had seen in the previous team (Imbituba),” said Fernandes. “We had patience and in the second year, he started to stand out.”
It began to click for Raphinha. He matured, his game improved and he found his feet in the professional game. It was a simple matter of time. “[It all came down to] adaptation,” said Fernandes. “In the second year, he started to stand out to the point of being the best player in the youth category. At the beginning, it was difficult because he was arriving at a new club and we also had other athletes of good level.”
Arsenal’s Gabriel was one of those coming through the Avai ranks at the same time as the Leeds man. They lived together for nearly three years and shared that process. They were seen catching up at Elland Road earlier this season. It became quite the rise at Avai for Raphinha. Fernandes considers him the best player Avai has seen in the 17 years he has been there.
“He was the best athlete I worked with,” he said. “In the youth team, I remember his quiet way off the field and extremely competitive on it, very good one v one and he scored a lot of goals.”
In the end, Raphinha would never play for Avai’s first team. Portugal’s Vitoria snapped him up in February 2016. After one of his many stand-out moments for Avai’s second team in a local cup competition, Deco swooped and added him to his D20 Sports stable. From there, the route to Europe became evident and it was only a matter of time before strings were pulled and a crucial transfer fee arrived to prop up Avai.
“The club was in need of resources at that time and it helped, and continues to help, a lot with this sale and the transfers bring good resources to the club through the solidarity mechanism,” said Fernandes.
The rest, as they say, is history. Raphinha has consistently proved himself at every club he has been at in Europe, treading a path well worn from Brazil. First came the step up to Sporting from Vitoria and then followed the season in Ligue 1 with Rennes, before the hop over to Elland Road where he seems to be laying the foundations for a highly successful career.
“I am very proud of him, not only for what he has achieved, but also for the man he has become,” said Belloli. He added: “We follow him here from Brazil, we know many people support him and love him just as we do, we hope he continues to make many people happy in Leeds.”
Raphinha working with Projeto Vencedor in Restinga
Raphinha working with Projeto Vencedor in Restinga
The charity in Restinga has flourished off the back of Eduardo and his family’s hard work, as well as the support and influence of Raphinha. From 15 boys and two volunteers when it started in 2014, Projeto Vencedor now has 15 volunteers with 180 boys benefiting from their work and vision.
“Our aim is not to train football players, but good citizens, responsible future men who know how to make good choices for their lives,” said Belloli. “In these seven years we have already contributed to the transformation of many lives, as football is not only part of the dream of most of the boys who attend the project, it is a powerful instrument to develop social skills, to work on responsibilities and discipline.”
Fernandes has watched Raphinha’s progress with interest and pride. He predicted a rise to beyond the Premier League before his apprentice had even left. “I'm not at all surprised,” he said. “When he left I commented with people closer this boy had the level to get to Barcelona. So I still expect even more from his growth. I'm a good friend of his manager and he always updates me with his information, apart from watching some of his games on TV.”
While Raphinha never made it to Avai’s first team, there is still a degree of local pride in seeing one of their own entertain global television audiences.
“The fans are very proud, even though he has not played in the main team, to know there is an athlete who trained at the club playing in the main world league, which is the Premier League,” he said. “It is a reason for many joys.”