Rafa put an end to speculation and renewed his contract with FC Porto for another season, with two additional seasons as an option. Eager to “continue winning and giving titles to the Club” and to be remembered as “an example for his work and dedication”, the 34-year-old hockey player expressed the “pride and satisfaction” he feels in living “a dream come true”.
During the first season under the command of Paulo Freitas, Rafa states that “the adaptation has already been made” and that the objective is to “continue on the path taken in the last games”. “No matter how good a run we have, the title will be decided in the play-offs”, recalls number 9, who assures that the team will “face it with maximum confidence” to “win even more and win everything again”. “That’s why we decided to extend this connection”, confides the winner of the Golden Dragon in the Pavilion Modalities category.
At the Arena like at home“This renewal means a lot to me, I feel at home here. This is where I want to be, this is where I feel good. Realizing that year after year FC Porto continues to count on me and my work is very gratifying, without a doubt, because they always told me that more difficult than reaching this level was being able to stay here for many years and the truth is that the years go by and I’m still here. That fills me with pride and satisfaction.”
Dragon since 2009“When I arrived, I was a kid full of dreams and being able to pursue my entire career here was one of those dreams. Fortunately, that has happened to this day, because even in the three years I spent away I was always contractually linked to FC Porto. Today I look back and, perhaps, all the dreams I had have already been achieved. But I don’t want to stop here, I want to continue winning and giving titles to FC Porto. Only with that thought does it make sense to continue here.”
From José Rafael to Rafa“At the time I asked for the name of the shirt to be Rafa for some reason and at the time I still didn’t have the morale to complain about the name José Rafael. Maybe it was customary, but they are shirts that I keep with great pride and that remind me of the squad I was part of, with many of my idols at the time. Now I look back and realize that these shirts are many years old and continuing to be here is, without a doubt, something spectacular.”
The captains’ lot“It was something that came naturally, it’s the normal course of things and life. I came here very young, I had the opportunity to learn from many of my references, I ended up going out on loan to gain first division experience and rhythm and, when I return, I return to a project that was born from scratch, with a lot of new people. Many of those who were new at the time are still here, but we all had to grow. Today I see myself as I saw my references at the time, with that extra role of helping those who arrive again, of trying to give them a bit of the experience that I have been winning over the years so that they feel as good as possible, as they did for me at the time. They always made me feel very good and I try to convey to them the values of FC Porto, to make them know what the Club is, what it means to play at FC Porto and the responsibility it is to wear this shirt. Both I and my older colleagues have done this in an obvious way and we have managed to win titles.
Hockey references“FC Porto has always had great players and it’s wrong to look at just one, because the important thing is to learn from everyone and take a little from each one to improve. But there are names like Reinaldo Ventura and Filipe Santos who are, without a doubt, references of national roller hockey. Pedro Gil himself, Edo Bosch… these were the ones I caught in my first year here and they are players that I’ve always gotten used to seeing on television since I started to like roller hockey and being able to be alongside them was an dream come true.”
Work and dedication“I like the people who work with me to be aware that I always try to do things as well as possible, I always try to do my best, to pass on these types of values of daily work and that only with effort can great things be achieved. That’s why I always say that the recognition that comes from within, from the people I interact with on a daily basis, is the most important thing. Obviously, we all always like to be cherished by the fans, but the fans only see what happens on the weekend and not the entire process during the week. This is how I would like to be remembered by the youngest, knowing that I help them with whatever they need and being an example through work and dedication.”
Outstanding coaches“When I arrived, the coach was Franklim (Pais), who is also a reference, and being able to work with him was also something that marked me. I was able to learn from all the coaches I met, especially at FC Porto, and they are all important to our process. In the recent past I highlight Ricardo (Ares), who was here four years and in all of them we won important titles, as was the case with the three championships and the Champions League, a trophy that FC Porto had been looking for for a long time. Here I go straight to the titles, but we didn’t live either just from titles, we also live from day to day life, from the work itself, from the personal relationships we create and Ricardo, for being the last and for what we achieved, left an impression on me in a very positive way, together with his entire technical team.”
Favorite titles“The Champions League is undoubtedly special for everything it symbolized for the Club, for the time we spent without winning and for all the lost opportunities, particularly in finals that FC Porto played for 33 years, if I’m not mistaken. There were many finals, we never managed to bring the Champions League to Dragão again, even after some finals lost at home, and for all of this the Champions League is undoubtedly special. And also because it’s that title we’ve all dreamed of since we were little. The title of Last year’s National Champion, for everything I went through during the season, was also very special and everything that came after that, like the award I ended up receiving from Zerozero and the Golden Dragon, which is also very linked to that title. As you can imagine, it wasn’t an easy phase in my professional and personal life either, of course, I didn’t know how I was going to come back, I wanted to come back as well as possible, but I didn’t know how long it would take. However, things didn’t go well either, but the truth was. It’s just that when we were all together we managed to take the team forward and we managed to reach a Champions League final. Unfortunately we lost on penalties, but we managed to win a title that was very important for us. My third favorite title was probably the first one I won after returning, because in the first two years I had the privilege of being able to learn and be close to my idols and win with them, but I only felt that it was really important when I returned after three years on loan. when we won the final against Benfica.”
The golden years“It is very difficult to repeat Deca’s feat. Nowadays we compete in a very competitive championship, we have several teams that can fight for the title and the championship I think is much more competitive than in other years. If we are not at our best, especially in away games, it is possible to lose points in any field. The championship is more demanding, and there is still the issue of the play-offs. I’m not saying that it is impossible, because in fact it is not, but of course it is quite difficult. Proof of this is that there was no longer a Bi-Championship National Roller Hockey Championship a few years ago.”
The speech at the Golden Dragons“I was much more nervous than in the Champions League final. We’re not used to speaking in front of so many people, I didn’t know if I was going to win or not and it was a nervous moment. When I heard my name, the nervousness went away momentarily – I thought ‘ok, I won’, but then it came back, because I had to go on stage and speak, something I’m not used to doing. The Golden Dragon is in my house, in a place where I see it every day and where all the people there You can also see.”
The arrival of Paulo Freitas“The ideas are different, the training method is different and we have to adapt. The truth is that, we have to adapt to the new concepts, to the new coach and, although the group has known each other for a few years, this also ends up helping. The coaches’ ideas are different and there is always a period of adaptation. I think it took a while for us to assimilate what Paulo asked of us, especially because we often resorted to what we had from other years, but I think that’s normal. I believe that the adaptation has already been made and I believe that we will continue on the path we have been building in these last few games.”
Ambitions intact“In the championship we are not in the place we want, but last year it was already proven that in the play-offs it starts all over again. The truth is that, no matter how good a regular phase we have, the title will be decided in the play-offs. Obviously the home advantage is always a big advantage, but the two teams that reached the final last year did not have the home advantage in the semi-final and we even ended up being champions away from home. We want to maintain this line, we want to improve, we want to be constant and after the phase regular we will do the math. We will face the play-off with maximum confidence.”
The championship format“When I finish the regular phase first, I would prefer the season to end soon. The play-off is more demanding and I believe that having a final phase with many games between the best teams is more appealing to the public and better for the show, but it becomes more tiring for us. We also like these types of games and it ends up being good for hockey and we also have to realize that it is important to promote the sport so that people enjoy watching roller hockey more and more.”
Goodbye to the selection“It was a very considered decision. I would love to be in the national team, but I think the time has come to think about other things. It’s something that also steals some time from our holidays and it’s time that I want to take advantage of more and more to be with my family. The years go by and in that short period of time we suffer a lot of wear and tear on a physical level, because for a month we have to prepare in the best possible way for a one-week competition. I want this to stop affecting my time at the club. Playing at home, with a great chance of winning always seemed like a good way to go and fortunately that happened. Above all, these were the three factors that weighed most on the decision.”
Ambitions for the future“My individual goals are always collective goals. I want to win more. I’ve already won everything I could win with this shirt, but I want to win even more and I want to win everything again. That’s why we decided to extend this connection.”
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