Raphinha Reveals How He Almost Played for Italy Before Brazil Call-Up

Brazilian winger Raphinha has opened up about a critical moment in his football career when he came very close to representing Italy at the international level instead of his home country, Brazil. The Barcelona forward made the revelation in an interview with journalist Isabela Pagliari, where he discussed how a delay in his Italian passport was the only reason he didn’t end up wearing the Azzurri jersey.

Raphinha, who currently plays for both Barcelona and the Brazil national team, admitted that he was strongly considering Italy’s invitation, especially with the excitement surrounding their Euro 2020 campaign. “I was close to accepting the Italian national team call! I was supposed to go to the Euro they won in 2020. I was basically set to go,” he said. “So luckily, since the passport didn’t come through.”

According to the winger, Italy had a well-structured plan for him. The national team staff showed serious interest and tried hard to convince him to join. “At that point, the people from the Italian national team were calling me,” he revealed. “Jorginho used to call me all the time. The Italian staff had this amazing project for me, something that really caught my eye.”

At the time, the opportunity to play for Italy was not only tempting because of their strong squad but also because of the chance to participate in a major European tournament. Raphinha said the support and persistent communication from Italy made it very difficult to say no. However, there was still a small part of him holding on to the dream of representing Brazil, the country of his birth.

“But at the same time, deep down, I still had that one per cent of hope that I could wear the Brazil shirt,” he explained. “And luckily, my Italian passport didn’t get ready in time!”

This twist of fate proved to be a turning point. With his passport delayed, Raphinha was unable to join Italy. Not long after, he got the long-awaited call-up to the Brazilian national team, making his debut and becoming a key part of their squad in recent years.

Today, Raphinha is proud to represent Brazil on the global stage, and he looks back on that near-miss with Italy as a lucky escape. He believes everything worked out as it was meant to, allowing him to fulfill a childhood dream many footballers only imagine.