Cafú (footballer, born 1993)

Carlos Miguel Ribeiro Dias (born 26 February 1993), known as Cafú, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Rotherham United.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Ribeiro and the second or paternal family name is Dias.
Cafú
Cafú (right) playing for Portugal U19
Personal information
Full name Carlos Miguel Ribeiro Dias[1]
Date of birth (1993-02-26) 26 February 1993[1]
Place of birth Guimarães, Portugal[1]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Rotherham United
Number 7
Youth career
2002–2003 Futsal
2003–2004 Caçadores Taipas
2004–2008 Vitória Guimarães
2008–2012 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Benfica B 23 (1)
2013–2014 Vitória Guimarães B 28 (6)
2014–2016 Vitória Guimarães 61 (3)
2016–2017 Lorient 18 (0)
2017–2019 Metz 10 (0)
2018–2019 → Legia Warsaw (loan) 38 (6)
2019–2020 Legia Warsaw 6 (0)
2020–2021 Olympiacos 9 (2)
2020–2021 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 13 (0)
2021–2023 Nottingham Forest 33 (1)
2023– Rotherham United 8 (0)
International career
2008 Portugal U16 4 (0)
2010 Portugal U17 1 (0)
2011 Portugal U18 3 (0)
2011–2012 Portugal U19 13 (5)
2013 Portugal U20 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:11, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

He played in Portugal, France, Poland, Greece and England, winning two Ekstraklasa and Super League Greece titles with Legia Warsaw and Olympiacos respectively, as well as a double with both of those teams.

Cafú represented Portugal at youth level.

Club career

Benfica

Born in Guimarães of Bissau-Guinean descent,[2] Cafú joined local Vitória SC's youth system at the age of 11, signing with S.L. Benfica four years later and going on to complete his development there. He started playing as a striker, but later shifted to a defensive midfielder role.[3]

On 19 September 2012, whilst with Benfica B, Cafú made his debut as a professional, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Cláudio Correa and scoring the 2–2 equaliser away against C.D. Tondela in the Segunda Liga.[4] It was his only goal of the season, in seven starts.[5]

Vitória Guimarães

On 26 July 2013, Cafú signed a four-year contract with former club Vitória.[6] Having returned to his previous position, he was initially assigned to the reserve team, which he helped to promote to the second tier.[7]

Cafú first appeared in the Primeira Liga on 17 August 2014, in a 3–1 away win over Gil Vicente F.C. where he partnered André André and Bernard Mensah in midfield and also featured the full 90 minutes.[8][5] He finished his debut campaign with 29 games, in an eventual fifth-place finish and the subsequent qualification for the UEFA Europa League.[9]

Lorient

On 8 June 2016, Cafú signed a four-year contract with French club FC Lorient.[10] His maiden appearance in Ligue 1 occurred on 18 November, in a 3–0 home loss against AS Monaco FC.[11]

Metz

Following his team's relegation, Cafú joined FC Metz also in the French top division on 1 August 2017, penning a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[12] He made his league debut 17 days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home defeat to title holders Monaco.[13]

Legia Warsaw

On 27 February 2018, Cafú was loaned to Legia Warsaw until 30 June 2019.[14] Subsequently, the move was made permanent.[15]

During his spell at the Polish Army Stadium, Cafú took part in 59 competitive matches (nine goals, six assists).[16] On 2 May 2018, he scored the 2–1 winner in the final of the Polish Cup against Arka Gdynia.[17]

Olympiacos

On 1 February 2020, Olympiacos F.C. agreed to pay Legia €400,000 to sign Cafú.[18] He played 14 official games during his stint, including nine in two separate editions of the Super League Greece which his team won.[19][20]

Nottingham Forest

Cafú was loaned to English Championship side Nottingham Forest on 5 October 2020, until the end of the season.[21] He was originally seen as a defensive midfielder, but manager Chris Hughton began using him in a more attacking role.[22]

Cafú agreed to a permanent move on 2 February 2021.[23] He scored his first goal for the club on 11 December, closing a 4–1 away win against Swansea City.[24] The following 9 January, he came off the bench for Philip Zinckernagel to help beat Arsenal 1–0 in the third round of the FA Cup.[25] He was unused as the Reds ended their 23-year absence from the Premier League with a 1–0 playoff final victory over Huddersfield Town on 29 May 2022.[26]

On 14 August 2022, Cafú made his debut in the English top tier, replacing Orel Mangala late into the 1–0 home defeat of West Ham United.[27] He was released at the end of the campaign.[28]

Rotherham United

Cafú returned to the English second division on 8 July 2023, on a one-year contract at Rotherham United.[29] He received two yellow cards in his first competitive game for the club, resulting in being sent off in the 69th minute of an eventual 4–1 away loss to Stoke City.[30]

International career

Cafú earned 27 caps for Portugal, from the under-16 to the under-20 levels. He was part of the under-19 squad that competed in the 2012 UEFA European Championship.[31]

Career statistics
As of match played 25 October 2023[32][33]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Benfica B 2012–13 Segunda Liga 231––––231
Vitória Guimarães B 2013–14 Campeonato Portugal 276––––276
2014–15 Segunda Liga 10––––10
Total 28600000000286
Vitória Guimarães 2014–15 Primeira Liga 2901020––310
2015–16 323101020–363
Total 61320302000683
Lorient 2016–17 Ligue 1 1802210–20232
Metz 2017–18 Ligue 1 1002110–131
Legia Warsaw (loan) 2017–18 Ekstraklasa 7211–––83
2018–19 31442–6010426
Legia Warsaw 2019–20 Ekstraklasa 6000–30–90
Total 44653009010599
Olympiacos 2019–20 Super League Greece 7130–10–111
2020–21 2100–10–31
Total 9130–20–142
Nottingham Forest (loan) 2020–21 Championship 1302000––150
Nottingham Forest 2020–21 Championship 1800000––180
2021–22 1413020–10201
2022–23 Premier League 100010––20
Total 4615030–10551
Rotherham United 2023–24 Championship 800010——90
Career total 24719196901304029225

Honours

Legia Warsaw

Olympiacos

Nottingham Forest

References
  1. "Cafú" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. Camara, Sene (2 May 2016). "Cafú e Pelé na seleção da Guiné-Bissau" [Cafú and Pelé in Guinea-Bissau national team] (in Portuguese). O Golo. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  3. "Cafú: "Sinto-me melhor a meio-campo"" [Cafú: "I feel better in midfield"] (in Portuguese). Vitória S.C. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. "Benfica B-Tondela, 2–2: Cafú salva encarnados da derrota" [Benfica B-Tondela, 2–2: Cafú saves reds from defeat]. Record (in Portuguese). 19 September 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  5. Castro Martins, Luís (16 November 2016). "Cafú: a conversa com Jorge Jesus e o sonho do adepto do Vitória" [Cafú: the talk with Jorge Jesus and the dream of a Vitória supporter] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  6. "Cafú assina contrato até 2017" [Cafú signs a contract until 2017] (in Portuguese). Vitória S.C. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  7. "Vitória B sobe à Segunda Liga" [Vitória B promote to the Second League] (in Portuguese). Vitória S.C. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  8. "Primeiro 'onze' com muita juventude" [First 'eleven' with a lot of youth] (in Portuguese). Vitória S.C. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  9. Machado, José Miguel (7 November 2016). "Pedro Martins corre atrás de Rui Vitória" [Pedro Martins chasing Rui Vitória]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  10. "Cafú s'engage avec les Merlus!" [Cafú commits to the Hakes!] (in French). FC Lorient. 8 June 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  11. "Pas d'effet Casoni pour Lorient face à Monaco" [No Casoni effect for Lorient against Monaco] (in French). Sport.fr. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  12. "Cafu (Lorient) signe trois ans à Metz (officiel)" [Cafu (Lorient) signs for three years at Metz (official)]. L'Équipe (in French). 1 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  13. Delafolie, Gaëtan (18 August 2017). "Metz – Monaco – Falcao, évidemment" [Metz – Monaco – Falcao, of course]. L'Équipe (in French). Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  14. "Metz empresta Cafú ao Legia Varsóvia" [Metz loan Cafú to Legia Warsaw] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  15. "Cafu zostaje w Legii!" [Cafú is a Legia player!] (in Polish). Legia Warsaw. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  16. Szymański, Piotr (31 January 2020). "Transfery. Legia Warszawa sprzedała Cafu do Olympiakosu Pireus. Za pół roku odszedłby za darmo" [Transfers. Legia Warsaw sold Cafu to Olympiacos Piraeus. In half a year he would leave for free] (in Polish). Gol 24. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  17. "Sensacji nie było. Błędy Arki, Legia z Pucharem Polski" [No upset. Arka mistakes, Legia with Polish Cup] (in Polish). Eurosport. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  18. "Ολυμπιακός: Ανακοίνωσε Καφού και Μορ" [Olympiacos: Cafú and Mor announced] (in Greek). Iefimerida. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  19. "Olympiacos win their 45th Greek Super League title". Greek City Times. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  20. "Olympiacos, de Pedro Martins, revalida título de campeão na Grécia" [Olympiacos, of Pedro Martins, renew champions title in Greece]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 11 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  21. "Reds land Cafu". Nottingham Forest F.C. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  22. Taylor, Paul (16 December 2020). "Cafu – the 'defensive midfielder' conducting Forest's attack". The Athletic. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  23. "Cafu loan move made permanent". Nottingham Forest F.C. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  24. Vincent, Gareth (11 December 2021). "Swansea City 1–4 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  25. De Cosemo, Harry (9 January 2022). "Nottingham Forest 1–0 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  26. "Nottingham Forest vence Huddersfield e regressa à Premier League 23 anos depois" [Nottingham Forest defeat Huddersfield and return to the Premier League after 23 years] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  27. Stone, Simon (14 August 2022). "Nottingham Forest 1–0 West Ham United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  28. "Forest confirm retained list". Nottingham Forest F.C. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  29. "Signing | Millers capture Cafu signature". Rotherham United F.C. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  30. Miller, Ben (5 August 2023). "Andre Vidigal scores twice in opening win for Potters". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  31. "Sub-19 – Convocados para Europeu" [Under-19 – European selection] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  32. Cafú at ForaDeJogo (archived)
  33. "Cafú". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  34. "Legia de André Martins e Luís Rocha campeão na Polónia" [André Martins and Luís Rocha's Legia champions in Poland]. Público (in Portuguese). 11 July 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  35. "Polónia: Cafú marca no triunfo do Legia na final da Taça" [Poland: Cafú scores in Legia triumph in Cup final] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  36. Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 0–1 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
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