Raphael Veiga shares hopes, makes promise in Palmeiras farewell | OneFootball

Tuesday for Palmeiras was marked by the official farewell of midfielder Raphael Veiga, announced as a reinforcement for América-MEX until the end of the season. The 30-year-old player revealed his expectations for his new challenge and made a promise to Palmeiras fans: that he will return and, later, retire at the club.

“This year I want to dedicate myself as much as possible to winning titles, scoring goals, and making history at América. I don’t know what will happen in the short term, in the medium term, but one thing I can assure: my last kick, a soccer ball as a professional player, will be wearing the Palmeiras jersey inside Allianz Parque. Now I go back to being a fan again, but one thing I can assure: I will return,” he stated.

Raphael Veiga with Palmeiras

The midfielder experienced a bit of everything at Palmeiras and built a career full of achievements there. He joined the club in 2017 but didn’t establish himself right away and was loaned to Athletico-PR. After a year, he returned to Verdão to continue a victorious journey.

With Palmeiras, he won two Brazilian Championships, two Libertadores, one Copa do Brasil, four Paulista Championships, one Recopa Sudamericana, and one Supercopa do Brasil. In total, 379 games, with 108 goals and 54 assists.

“In the last nine years that I lived here, I experienced wonderful moments, unforgettable games. Everyone knows what it means to me to play for Palmeiras, a club that during much of my childhood was my joy on weekends as a fan, but I also have a life goal,” declared Veiga.

Expectations for the “new challenge”

After a long stint at Palmeiras, Raphael Veiga explained the decision to accept the challenge in Mexico. This will be the midfielder's first foreign experience. Soon, Veiga will be available to coach André Jardine for his debut.

“I like to challenge myself, a goal to know another culture, to play in another country, to learn another language and also challenge myself in this other country, to win in this other country and taking into account some factors, some circumstances, and understanding these signs, I with a lot of wisdom, a lot of calm, understood that it was the best moment for me to make this decision in my career,” he concluded.

Palmeiras negotiated Raphael Veiga with América-MEX on a one-year loan with an option to purchase after the end of this contract.

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