Miracle worker: Rafael named São Paulo fans’ player of the year | OneFootball

In a terrible year for São Paulo, the best player of the season as chosen by the fans could only be the goalkeeper Rafael, a standout and hero in several matches for the team in this traumatic 2025.

In a poll conducted on the social media of AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR, the team captain was overwhelmingly favored by São Paulo fans: 67% of the more than ten thousand participants named Rafael as the main player of the Tricolor this year.

Midfielder Marcos Antonio was the second most voted and ended up being the fans' favorite among the outfield players. The midfielder received 22% of the participants' votes.

Luciano, the team's top scorer of the year for the third consecutive time, and the player with the most goal involvements this season, received only 7% of the fans' preference, and left-back Enzo Díaz garnered only 4% of the São Paulo fans' votes, among the four options chosen by our team.

Rafael participated in no less than 60 of São Paulo's 68 games this season, by far the player with the most minutes for the team, with 5,268.

In the Brasileirão, he was the third goalkeeper with the most total saves (112), the fifth with the most clean sheets (12), and the third with the most saves inside the box (69), according to Sofascore data. Rafael was also among the leaders in goals prevented (10.38).

Besides being a great goalkeeper, Rafael also became one of the main leaders of the squad, always encouraging in the locker room before matches, and frequently representing the group in post-match interviews. This year he reached 177 matches defending the tricolor jersey.

If the year 2026 promises to be even more challenging than this one, at least in goal we have the certainty and security of a name that has already won over the fans and tirelessly saved the team this season: Saint Rafael!

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.