Rafael Pires Vieira

Rafael Pires Vieira, Rafael or Rafael Pires, ( born August 1, 1978 in Criciúma ) is a Brazilian footballer.

Career

Rafael began his career in Finland with HJK Helsinki, where he was national champion in 1997 and won the League Cup. He also won in 1997 with 11 goals in the First Division the title of the scorer. After several years at HJK and FC Jazz Pori 2000 he moved to SC Heerenveen. There, however, he could not prevail, and came in two seasons to only eight missions. In 2002, he joined the Turkish club Denizlispor. Again, he brought it on only three games, so he decided to return to Finland. After one season at third division Forssan JK, where he was top scorer in the league, in 2005 he moved back to the First Division for FC Lahti. With this club he won the 2007 League Cup.