Royals stopper on the prospect of playing in front of fans again and how Reading now feels like home!
It has been a long time since Rafael returned to Brazil to see friends and family. His career in Europe along with the COVID pandemic has meant travelling back to his homeland hasn’t been an option for quite some time. But his family feel very at home here in Reading.
“I’m so happy in Reading. I like the city. It feels like home and my family are settled,” he said.
“And this season, it will be so nice because we will have our fans back. We missed them a lot. They make football beautiful. They make football better.”
The Royals are enjoying a week up in Scotland at the moment and Rafael was enjoying life north of the border.
“It’s been very nice. It’s a beautiful place with very good facilities. And being together is nice because we can train but also socialise a little bit together.
“We’ve got an amazing training ground back at Bearwood, but here we can be together every day. We can talk more, we can play table tennis together, play video games – it has been nice.”
The goalkeeping fraternity is as close as ever and we spoke to Rafael shortly after he had returned from another tough training session with his fellow stoppers!
“The competition as a goalkeeper is important - everybody wants to play of course, but we help each other because, first and foremost, we are friends.
“As friends, our environment is amazing. Our atmosphere together is great, we always enjoy training together. And we are always happy. When you are happy, it makes the training session easier.”
