Midfielder Rafinha Alcântara (brother of Thiago Alcântara and son of four-time champion Mazinho) announced this Monday that he will end his career as a professional football player. The announcement was made through videos posted (in Spanish and Portuguese) on the athlete’s social networks (who also has Spanish nationality), in which he explains that the decision is the result of the most recent health problem he had, a knee injury.
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“After some time away from the field, after a long recovery, today I want to share an important decision for me: the time has come for me to retire from football. Just over a year ago I suffered a serious injury to my knee, which, unfortunately, prevents me from returning to compete at the highest level. Accepting this was not easy. Football has been mine since I can remember, and understanding that I could no longer dedicate myself to it as I always did was a difficult process”, explains the player, who is 32 years old.
Years ago, the player was targeted by Flamengo, who sent managers to Europe to negotiate with the athlete’s staff. In July 2021, the team sent the then vice-president of football, Marcos Braz, and director, Bruno Spindel, who also tried names such as striker Kenedy (who would go on loan) and midfielder Thiago Mendes (with whom there would be no agreement). Then at PSG, Rafinha did not reach an agreement with the Rio club and stayed in France.
In his career, Rafinha, revealed by the Barcelona academy, also played for Celta de Vigo, Inter Milan and Real Sociedad in Europe, in addition to his recent spell at Al-Arabi, in Qatar, a club he has defended since 2022. Although he started in Spain’s youth categories, he moved to Brazil’s under-20s and was called up and defended the Brazilian team.
“Football gave me unforgettable moments and allowed me to work with great professionals, who made me realize how privileged I was to be able to call myself a football player. […] For the last 20 years, football has been my routine, my fuel, my identity. Today begins a new stage, different, without the adrenaline of high competition, but full of reasons to smile”, explained Rafinha.
The video published by the now former player shows a series of moments from his career, for example when he played for Barcelona alongside the MSN trio (formed by Messi, Suárez and Neymar), as well as records of when he played for the Catalan club’s youth team. There are also videos of him, as a child, playing with a ball alongside his brother Rafinha.
“I learned to look back with gratitude. What an incredible journey. I had the opportunity to live in different countries, learn a new language and delve into other cultures. I met people who marked me forever. I shared a dressing room with idols, extraordinary teammates. I defended teams that I admired as a child and felt the support and passion of the fans in every stadium I stepped into”, he recalled.
