The Story of the Spanish and Brazilian Rafinha Brothers

G'day Hive! Yesterday I wrote about the curious case of the Boateng brothers. Their journeys led them to different paths which resulted in them representing different national teams. Kevin-Prince grew up in a part of Berlin where more than a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. His brother Jerome lived a more privileged upbringing in an affluent part of the city. You can check that post out here.

Today I've got another similar scenario where the Alcantara brothers - Thiago and Rafinha - are playing for different national teams.

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Thiago is the older currently plays for Liverpool after successful spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich where he won La Liga, the Bundesliga as well as the Champions League at both clubs. He's an extremely gifted midfielder with exceptionally accurate passing and dribbling ability.

His brother Rafinha is also a midfielder who has played for big clubs including Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSG.

Much like the Boateng brothers, both Rafinha and Thiago represent different national teams. Jerome Boateng represented Germany whereas Kevin-Prince opted to play for Ghana on account of "feeling more Ghanian".

Why has Thiago and Rafinha represented different countries?

It all starts with their father Mazinho. He himself was capped by the Brazilian national team 35 times and won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Mazinho also played as a midfielder which both sons have followed in his footsteps.

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Thiago chose to represent Spain where he first lived from at age 5.
Source: Photo by ThomasLendt shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.

Mazinho started his career at Vasco da Gama in Brazil then moved to Italy and had Thiago while playing for Lecce. After a spell at Fiorentina the family moved back to Brazil, Rafinha born while Mazinho was playing at Palmeiras. The family then moved to Spain where Mazinho played for Valencia, Celta Vigo, Elche with Thiago 5 years old when they first moved. Mazinho would finish his career at Vitoria in Brazil but Thiago as well as Rafinha would move back to Spain and begin their journey through the Barcelona youth system.

Eligible to represent Brazil or Italy as well, Thiago chose to represent Spain making his debut in a friendly against the country of his birth Italy. He chose to represent them on account that he grew up in Spain. He's now closing in on 50 games for the national team and has scored twice so far.

His brother Rafinha was capped 14 times at youth level for Spain however he switched his allegiance to Brazil. He managed to play in two friendlies against Costa Rica and the USA in 2015, scoring a goal against the Americans in a 4-1 win.

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Rafinha chose to represent his birth nation of Brazil, where his father and mother had both originated from.
Source: Photo by Artyom Sharbatyan shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.

It can get real intriguing as to why certain players pledge allegiance to one nation over another. Did Thiago feel that he had a better shot at the Spanish national team than the historically stacked Brazilian team? Perhaps Rafinha may have got more international games under his belt if he opted to play for Spain over Italy.

As the saying goes, "home is where the heart is" and that's why it appears Thiago ultimately picked Spain. He even went against his fathers wishes who had hoped that he'd represent Brazil. He left Italy when his young so perhaps he doesn't have any fond memories of the country and the same can perhaps be said about Brazil too.

His brother Rafinha went with his own heart and that's why he picked Brazil. He's even quoted as saying "I'm Brazilian, 100 per cent Brazilian", following his pledge of allegiance to Brazil.

Ultimately like Kevin-Prince Boateng, both the Alcantara brothers went with their heart, Kevin-Prince stating he felt more Ghanaian when playing for them over Germany. Just like the heart is the engine room for our bodies, it's the engine that decided which countries Thiago and Rafinha swore their allegiances too.


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Wolfgang Sport started in 2017 as a way to connect my passion for American and British sports. Today it's evolved into a blockchain sports blog pushing the boundaries into the crypto world and embracing Web3 technologies.



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11 comments
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Rafinha And Thiago, both are good players.Nice to know they were from the same descendants, but due to many occasions, they were separated from the same road.

One thing to notice,like characters follow heredity, the same way -fathers passion for football sport followed to son's habit.

Interesting to see that from your blog.
Good preview of two class footballers and showing on their short life.

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Thiago is the more talented of the two though .

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I agree. Such a talent and totally transformed Bayern Munich to the next level, able to win the Champions League

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(Edited)

It all boiled down to choices and I feel most of them feel they have a shot at being a regular than others. Whatever was going through their heads. They are both good and I have always fancied Thiago even if I haven't seen his best for Liverpool. So much hype about what he does which I haven't seen much due to injuries.

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Thiago and what he did for Bayern shouldn't be underestimated. His has one of the best passing accuracies in world football.

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He actually played so well for Bayern. He wasn't getting that freedom to showcase his ability in Barcelona which was why he moved. He played his heart out for Bayern, that's true.

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I think Rafinha's career was ruined due to poor choices early on as he didn't pick the right club. He was in Barca during their most destructive period for La Masia graduates, then Inter during their lost years, Celta Vigo during their chaotic time, then finally PSG in the star-studded line up. I think his current choice, Real Sociedad on loan, should have happened for him 10 years ago.

He is also forgotten in that Barca comeback against PSG when he occupied that LM role and gave Neymar the freedom he needed.

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Rafinha did link up well with Neymar and that's how he got his international goal as well. Would have loved to have seen him in the Premier League. I think he could've held his own

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