Rafaël Dias

Rafaël Marques Dias Brito (born 29 January 1991), commonly known as Rafaël Dias, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for French club US Créteil-Lusitanos.[2]

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Dias and the second or paternal family name is Brito.
Rafaël Dias
Personal information
Full name Rafaël Marques Dias Brito[1]
Date of birth (1991-01-29) 29 January 1991
Place of birth Covilhã, Portugal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 US Créteil
Youth career
1996–2003 FC 4 Rivières 70
2003–2010 Sochaux
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2014 Sochaux 29 (1)
2014 → Arles-Avignon (loan) 13 (2)
2014–2016 US Créteil 30 (2)
2016–2017 Racing Besançon 13 (3)
2017– US Créteil 0 (0)
National team‡
2005–2006 France U15 4 (2)
2007 France U16 2 (0)
2010–2011 Portugal U20 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:42, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2011

Brito was born in Covilhã, Portugal, but is a naturalized citizen of France and was a France youth international having earned caps with the under-15 and under-16 teams. Dias recently switched allegiances to his birth country Portugal after joining up with the nation's under-20 team in 2010.[3]

Dias plays as an attacking midfielder and is the son of former S.C. Covilhã player Quim Brito, as well as the nephew of former Portuguese international César Brito.[4] He made his professional debut on 7 April 2010 in a league match against Marseille.[5][6] On 2 September 2010, Dias signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Sochaux until June 2013.[7]

Career

Early career

Dias was born on 7 January 1991 in Covilhã, Portugal. At the age of six months, his family moved to France after his father, Quim Brito, a football player, signed with FC 4 Rivières 70, an amateur club located in Dampierre-sur-Salon in the Franche-Comté region.[3] Dias began his football career playing for 4 Rivières at the age of five in 1996. He spent seven years at the club and, in 2003, signed youth papers with professional club Sochaux.[3]

Sochaux

Upon his arrival to the club, Dias was inserted into the club's youth academy. He quickly rose through the ranks of the academy and established himself as one of the club's top prospects in his age group alongside fellow midfielder Serdar Gürler, striker Cédric Bakambu, and goalkeeper Pierrick Cros. In the 2008–09 season, Dias began appearing with the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur. He made his amateur debut on 29 November 2008 in a league match against Colmar appearing as a substitute.[8] Dias finished the campaign with eight appearances; seven of them as a substitute.[9]

During the 2009–10 season, Dias continued to developed with the club's reserve team in the fourth division. He appeared in 15 matches scoring six goals.[9] Also during the season, Dias was a part of the Sochaux under-19 team that reached the final of the Coupe Gambardella, the country's prestigious youth cup competition. In the lead up to the final, he scored doubles against Toulouse and Nantes in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively.[10][11] In the final match against Metz at the Stade de France, Sochaux were defeated 4–3 on penalties. Dias converted his penalty, however, early failed attempts by Gürler and Clément Giraud dashed the team's hopes.[12] It was later reported by the media that scouts of English club Tottenham Hotspur attended the game to watch Dias.[13][14]

Midway through the 2009–10 Ligue 1 season, Dias, alongside Gürler, began integrating with the first team after manager Francis Gillot announced his desire to give the club's youth talent an opportunity. On 7 April 2010, he made his professional debut in a league match against Marseille. Dias appeared as a substitute in the match and played 16 minutes in a 3–0 defeat.[15] Two weeks later, he made another league appearance, again as a substitute in another 3–0 defeat, this time against Boulogne.[16]

Following the season, Dias spent the summer training with Portuguese Liga club Benfica. Benfica wanted the player to remain at the club, however, due to being under contract with Sochaux, he returned to France for pre-season training.[3] On 2 September 2010, Dias signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Sochaux until June 2013.[7] He was officially promoted to the senior team and assigned the number 28 shirt. Dias, however, still remains a fixture on the club's reserve team in the CFA having scored four goals in 10 appearances.[9] His first professional appearance of the season came on 16 October in a 2–0 defeat to Montpellier.[17]

In January 2014, Dias was loaned out in Ligue 2 to AC Arles-Avignon, to gain more playing time.[18]

International

Though Dias was born in Portugal, due to living in France since he was six months old, he acquired citizenship, thus making him eligible to represent both Portugal and France at international level. At the age of 14, Dias represented France at under-15 level. The following year, he was called up to the under-16 team by coach Francis Smerecki. Dias appeared in two friendly matches against Poland in March 2007.[19][19] Between 2007–2010, Dias was not selected by Smerecki for international duty.

In 2010, Dias announced his intent to represent Portugal at international level and confirmed his decision by declining the opportunity to attend a training camp for future France national under-21 players.[3][20] He was later selected by the Portugal under-20 team.[21] On 7 October 2010, Dias made his debut with the under-20 team in a friendly match against France. The following month, he was called up to the team against to participate in training sessions with the team preparing for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[22]

Career statistics

Club

(Correct as of 14 December 2011)

Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe[nb 2] Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Sochaux 2009–10 200000—200
2010–11 300100—400
2011–12 200000000200
Total 700100000800
Career total 700100000800

Notes
  1. Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions
  2. Includes UEFA Supercup
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References
  1. "SELECÇÃO Nacional Sub-20" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  2. "Outro português desponta em França" (in Portuguese). Record. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  3. "Entrevista com Rafael Dias" (in Portuguese). Academia de Talentos. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  4. "Rafael e Fábio seguem a "marca" Brito" (in Portuguese). Jornal Reconquista. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  5. "La première de Rafaël Dias" (in French). FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. 7 April 2010. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  6. "Too light to frighten Marseille". FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. 7 April 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  7. "Trois signatures professionnelles". FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (in French). 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  8. "Colmar – Sochaux 1 – 1". Foot-National (in French). 29 November 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  9. "Statistiques détaillées de Rafaël Dias" (in French). Foot-National. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  10. "Gambardella: le FCSM en finale!". FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (in French). 18 April 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  11. "Gambardella: le FCSM en demi-finale!". FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (in French). 4 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  12. "Sochaux v. Metz Coupe Gambardella Final". French Football Federation (in French). 1 May 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010. |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
  13. "Tottenham to make check on Sochaux starlet Rafael Dias". Tribal Football. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  14. "Rafael Dias na agenda do Tottenham". Academia de Talentos (in Portuguese). 26 May 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  15. "Sochaux v. Marseille Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 7 April 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  16. "Sochaux v. Boulogne Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  17. "Sochaux v. Marseille Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 7 April 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  18. "Sochaux prête Dias à Arles-Avignon" [Sochaux loans Dias to Arles-Avignon] (in French). ouest-france.fr. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  19. "Match nul pour débuter (0–0)" (in French). French Football Federation. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  20. "Trois changements dans la liste" (in French). French Football Federation. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  21. "Preparação prossegue" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  22. "Internacionalizações dos jogadores convocados" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
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