Rafael Coutinho

Rafael Coutinho Barcellos dos Santos is a professional football player from Brazil who plays as a midfielder. Known for being a great defensive cover for his team-mates, Coutinho learnt the art of playing football at the youth academy at Vasco da Gama.

Between 2001 and 2002, Coutinho spent two seasons at the youth academy before breaking into the first team in 2003. Over the next four seasons, Coutinho worked his way into the first team, becoming a regular at the side. However, during that spell, Coutinho spent time out on loan to Clube de Futebol Estrela Amadora in 2005-06. After leaving Vasco da Gama, Coutinho moved onto Tombense Futebol Clube.

Despite moving to a lower division team, Coutinho spent most of his time on loan to higher division clubs. In 2007-08, he moved to Botafogo before moving to Criciuma Esporte Clube for the remaining half of 2008. He spent 2009 at Fortaleza Esporte Clube where he played 25 games on the way to scoring 2 goals and giving himself the profile-raise needed to be signed by a bigger team.

In 2010, Figueirense came calling and Coutinho signed with the club in the hopes of making the first team and playing in Brazilian top-flight at some point in his career.