York Rafael

York Rafael (born 17 March 1999) is a Swedish footballer who plays for Kalmar FF, primary as a left midfielder.[3][4]

York Rafael
Personal information
Full name York Rafael
Date of birth (1999-03-17) 17 March 1999
Place of birth Gävle, Sweden
Playing position(s) Left midfielder[1]
Club information
Current team
 Kalmar FF
Youth career
2011–2013 Brynäs IF
2013–2014 Sandvikens IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Sandvikens IF 38 (6)
2016 → Gefle IF (loan) 1 (0)
2017[2] → VfL Bochum (loan) 0 (0)
2018 IFK Värnamo 7 (0)
2018 → Sandvikens IF (loan) 17 (2)
2019– Kalmar FF 0 (0)
National team
2015–2016 Sweden U17 6 (0)
2016–2017 Sweden U19 9 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 April 2019

Club career

York Rafael started his football career with Gävle side Brynäs IF in 2011.[5] He joined Sandvikens IF's youth academy two years later and made his senior debut with them as a 15-year-old in Division 2.[6] In 2015 Rafael went on trials with European clubs Watford and Lazio, as well with Swedish IFK Göteborg the previous year, without signing any contracts.[7][8]

After having been linked with a move to AIK,[9] Rafael instead joined Allsvenskan club Gefle IF on loan in August 2016.[10] He made his Gefle debut in Svenska Cupen, playing 90 minutes against Söderhamns FF on August 24.[11] It was followed up with his professional debut in Allsvenskan three days later against Djurgårdens IF, in which he came on as a substitute in the final minutes.[12]

On 11 December 2017, he joined IFK Värnamo in Superettan, Sweden's second tier.[13] During the 2018 season, York returned to his old club Sandvikens IF on loan.[14] On 11 December 2018, Kalmar FF announced, that they had signed Rafael on a deal until the end of 2021.[15]

International career

He won his first youth international cap for Sweden U17 on 4 August 2015, in Sweden's 3–0 win against Iceland.[16] He played six games in total for U17, for which he is still eligible to play for, until he was called up to Sweden's U19 squad in September 2016. He has scored one goal in three games so far.[5]

Due to his dual citizenship with Rwanda, he was invited to play for Rwanda national football team in 2015. However, he has not decided which nation to represent at the senior level.[17]

Personal life

Rafael is of Rwandan descent, but was born and raised in Gävle, Sweden, to an Angolan mother and Portuguese father.[8][17] He is a practicing Christian.[18]

He cites Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben as his idol.[4]

Career statistics

Club
As of 21 October 2016[19]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Gefle IF 2016 Allsvenskan 1010—20
Total 10100020
Career total 10100020

References
  1. Profile at WorldFootball, worldfootball.net
  2. Officiellt: York Rafael återvänder till Sandvikens IF‚ fotbolltransfers.com, 3 March 2017
  3. "York Rafael". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. "York Rafael – Sandvikens IF" (in Swedish). Tonsser.com. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  5. "York Rafael". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  6. "A-lagsman som 15-åring – nu vill supertalangen utomlands" (in Swedish). FotbollDirekt.se. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  7. "Nu testar svenske talangen med Lazio" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen.se. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. "Southampton jagar svenske talangen" (in Swedish). Sportexpressen. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  9. "AIK testar supertalangen" (in Swedish). Sportbladet. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  10. "Tshakasua lånas ut – York Rafael lånas in" (in Swedish). Gefle IF. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  11. "Matchinformation: Söderhamns FF mot Gefle IF". svenskfotboll.se. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  12. "Matchinformation: Djurgårdens IF mot Gefle IF". svenskfotboll.se. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  13. Välkommen York!‚ ifkvarnamo.se, 11 December 2017
  14. "Inget utlandsäventyr för York – tillbaka i SIF". Sandvikens IF. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  15. York Rafael klar för Kalmar FF!, kalmarff.se, 11 December 2018
  16. "York Rafael". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  17. "SIF-talangen får jättechans hos Premier League-lag" (in Swedish). Arbetarbladet.se. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  18. "Ung talang med prisat stöd i ryggen" (in Swedish). SvT. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  19. "Y. Rafael". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
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