Rayan emerges as Vasco’s 2025 figurehead, chasing first career trophy in Copa do Brasil final | OneFootball

Rayan has become the face of Vasco in 2025, and chases his first senior trophy in Sunday’s Copa do Brasil final at the Maracanã against Corinthians.

As reported by Globo.com, the academy forward joined at six and emerged as the team’s reference at 19 after Fernando Diniz arrived. The coach urged the board not to sell him in the last window, arguing a sale then would undervalue him and describing the striker as irreplaceable, a view he set out in May after beating Melgar in Sudamericana.

He is the competition’s top scorer with five goals, having struck against União Rondonópolis, Nova Iguaçu, Operário and Fluminense. When he did not score against Botafogo, he converted his penalty in the shootout. He now aims to find the net in the decider.

Under Diniz, the 19-year-old has blossomed, scoring 20 times for the club this season and being named the Brasileirão revelation. The final offers a chance to secure his first professional title.

Rayan fronted a Vasco crop that dominated Rio, winning the Carioca Under-17 in 2021 and 2022, then the Under-20 in 2023 and 2024. With Brazil, he lifted the South American Under-17 in 2023 and the Under-20 in 2025.

In 2018, aged 11, he said he dreamed of winning the Brasileirão with the club. Seven years on, he could claim a national crown with the team that formed him, where his father played and his mother worked. In October he said he felt special after receiving Roberto Dinamite’s blessing.

Source: Globo.com