| Rafaelson Nguyễn Xuân Son | |
| Full Name: | Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes Nguyễn Xuân Son[1] |
| Birth Date: | 30 March 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Pirapemas, Brazil |
| Height: | 1.85 m[2] |
| Position: | Striker |
| Currentclub: | Thep Xanh Nam Dinh |
| Clubnumber: | 14 |
| Youthyears1: | –2013 |
| Youthclubs1: | Bahia |
| Youthyears2: | 2013–2016 |
| Youthclubs2: | Vitória |
| Years1: | 2015–2018 |
| Clubs1: | Vitória |
| Caps1: | 12 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Years2: | 2018 |
| Clubs2: | → Vegalta Sendai (loan) |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs3: | Vegalta Sendai |
| Caps3: | 0 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs4: | Næstved |
| Caps4: | 24 |
| Goals4: | 5 |
| Years5: | 2020 |
| Clubs5: | Nam Dinh |
| Caps5: | 18 |
| Goals5: | 6 |
| Years6: | 2020–2021 |
| Clubs6: | SHB Da Nang |
| Caps6: | 12 |
| Goals6: | 6 |
| Years7: | 2021–2023 |
| Clubs7: | Topenland Binh Dinh |
| Caps7: | 39 |
| Goals7: | 21 |
| Years8: | 2023– |
| Clubs8: | Thep Xanh Nam Dinh |
| Caps8: | 31 |
| Goals8: | 38 |
| Club-Update: | 28 November 2024 |
Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes (born 30 March 1997), also known as Nguyễn Xuân Son or simply known as Rafaelson, is a Brazilian-Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as a striker for V.League 1 club Thep Xanh Nam Dinh.
A Vitória youth graduate, Rafaelson was accused of having an illegal age in April 2015,[3] a claim which was later dismissed by the club.[4] He was promoted to the first team in September, by manager Vagner Mancini.[5]
Rafaelson made his professional debut on 5 September 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Robert in a 2–1 home loss against Botafogo for the Série B championship. His first goal came on 31 October, netting the last in a 3–2 home loss against Náutico. He contributed with seven appearances during the campaign, as his side achieved promotion to Série A.
On 30 June 2016, Rafaelson made his top tier debut, replacing Tiago Real in a 3–2 home win against Sport Recife.
In February 2018, Rafaelson joined Japanese club Vegalta Sendai on a loan deal.[6] A month later, he made his first appearance for the team in the J.League Cup game against Albirex Niigata, but suffered a serious injury in the match that required three months of recovery.[7] In August 2020, his transfer to Vegalta Sendai was made permanent. However, in January 2019, he departed from the club after his contract expired, without having appeared any league game.[8]
On 13 April 2019, Rafaelson moved to Denmark and joined Næstved.[9] He scored 5 goals after 24 league appearances for the team in two seasons.[10]
Næstved announced on 12 January 2020, that they had sold Rafaelson to Vienamese club Nam Định in the V.League 1.[10] After one season at Nam Định, despite his good form, the club was unable to keep him due to financial difficulty, leading him to join V.League 1 fellow SHB Đà Nẵng, where he also stayed for only season.[11]
In September 2021, Rafaelson was transferred to Topenland Bình Định.[12] On 3 September 2022, he scored his first hattrick in V.League 1 in to help his team defeat the league's leading team Hanoi FC 3–0.[13] He later lead his team to the 2022 Vietnamese Cup final, scoring a hattrick in the semi-final game against Đông Á Thanh Hóa.[14] In the 2023 season, Rafaelson became the league top scorer, netting a total of 16 goals and was named in the team of the season.[15]
On 28 August 2023, after his contract with Topenland Bình Định expired, Rafaelson made his return to Nam Định.[16] On 26 May 2024, he scored five goals in a 5–2 victory against Đông Á Thanh Hóa, which tied the record for most goals scored by a single player in a single game in the V.League 1 history with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai's Nguyễn Đình Việt back in 2007. On 25 June 2024, Rafaelson netted a hat-trick in a 5–1 league win against Khánh Hòa, thus securing the first national league title for Nam Định since 1985.[17] He finished the season as the league's top scorer with 31 goals, thus broke the record for most goals scored by a single player in a single V.League 1 season, previously held by Lê Huỳnh Đức (25 goals).[18] In addition to the top scorer award, Rafaelson was also given the "Player of the season" award and featured in the league's team of the season for the second season in a row.[19]
On 31 August 2024, Rafaelson scored a brace in the 2024 Vietnamese Super Cup final to contribute in Nam Định's 3–0 win against Đông Á Thanh Hóa, winning the trophy for the first time in the club's history.[20]
In the 2024–25 V.League 1, Rafaelson was naturalised and registered for the league under the name Nguyễn Xuân Son, following his Vietnamese citizenship application.
In November 2024, FIFA authorized Rafaelson to represent the Vietnam national team after 5 years of residency in the country. He was named in Vietnam's preliminary squad for the 2024 ASEAN Championship.[21]
Rafaelson got married in January 2018 and have two children.[22] In August 2024, after five years of residency in the country, he applied for Vietnamese citizenship at the Nam Định Department of Justice, expressing his wish to represent the Vietnam national team in the future.[23] [24]
On 20 September 2024, Rafaelson officially obtained Vietnamese citizenship.[25]
| Season | League | State League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Vitória | 2015 | Série B | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | ||||
| 2016 | Série A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||||
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |||
| Vegalta Sendai | 2018 | J1 League | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Næstved BK | 2018–19 | 1st Division | 6 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 1 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 18 | 4 | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 4 | ||||||
| Total | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5 | |||
| Nam Định | 2020 | V.League 1 | 18 | 6 | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | 19 | 8 | ||||
| SHB Đà Nẵng | 2021 | 12 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 6 | |||||
| Topenland Bình Định | 2022 | 21 | 5 | — | 4 | 3 | — | — | 25 | 8 | |||||
| 2023 | 18 | 16 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 17 | ||||||
| Total | 39 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 25 | |||
| Thép Xanh Nam Định | 2023–24 | V.League 1 | 24 | 31 | — | 3 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 32 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 7 | 7 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 14 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 46 | |||
| Total career | 136 | 77 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 166 | 91 | |||
Vitória
2016Topenland Bình Định
Thép Xanh Nam Định
Individual