He may not be the Brazilian occupying the headlines in the north-west this week, but Rafael da Silva hopes he can increase his profile back home tonight by helping Manchester United to the Carling Cup Final at Wembley.
While United's rivals Manchester City continue their pursuit of AC Milan's Kaka, young Da Silva is expected to feature at Old Trafford as a young United side try to overturn a 1-0 semi-final deficit against Derby County.
At only 18, Da Silva - or Rafael as he is called to set him apart from his identical twin Fabio - has been the unexpected bonus of United's season, making the right-back position pretty much his own.
His ambitions for the season are clear. 'I want titles,' he said last night. 'We are world champions already but I want more, including the Premier League and other cups. And I want to make lots of appearances. For me, at 18, it has been amazing. Now I want more.
'When I arrived here it was not good, because I'd not played at all for one year. I was surprised when I played against Peterborough in pre-season in August.
'I never thought it would happen so soon. I know my ability but my training was not good at first. 'After the first game, the boss said some very good things about me, which was fantastic because I love this club. I'm already thinking of being here for many, many years.
'One year ago I was not even playing any football - now to play so much is fantastic.'
Rafael's stand-out moment was a spectacular goal in a 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Arsenal, but it has been his nuts-and-bolts defending that has impressed United's followers.
'I'm still working on my defending because here it is completely different to Brazil,' he said.
'The right back in Brazil is always attacking, attacking, attacking but that is not the case here. I like attacking but it is not actually the right way in England, so I want to improve my defending.'
Resource: Mail Online
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