RAFAEL DA SILVA: INTERNATIONAL CAREER EXPOSED

Istanbul Basaksehir defender Rafael da Silva made his international bow for Brazil when he featured for his country at the 2007 edition of the FIFA u-17 World Cup tournament in South Korea.

Rafael da Silva could have played for Portugal if he didn't make his debut for the Brazilian national team after the right-back was approached by former Portugal national team manager Carlos Queiroz, who's also a former assistant manager at Manchester United under the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

Rafael da Silva decided to take up his offer of playing for Portugal on one condition since him and his twin brother Fabio da Silva are eligible. The former Manchester United defender had told Carlos Queiroz that he will play for Portugal if he's not called up to play for the Brazilian national team. In the end, Rafael da Silva featured twice for the Selecao at the national team level in addition to his participation at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. For Fabio da Silva, he had his mind fixed on representing only Brazil unlike his brother.

Ex-Brazil national team manager Mano Menezes gave him an invitation to the senior team for the first time in July 2010 ahead of the friendly with the United States of America on August 10 but he didn't make his debut. He had to wait two more years for his first game for the five-time world champions. Rafael da Silva was initially left out of the Brazil squad for the friendlies in May and June 2012 before he was called up as a replacement for the injured Dani Alves.

He made his debut for Brazil against Denmark as a substitute for Danilo. Few weeks later, he scored the first goal for Brazil at the London 2012 Olympics in the game against Egypt, which ended in a 3-2 win for his team. In total, Rafael da Silva made two appearances for the Brazil senior team.