Before coming to Vietnam to play and become a citizen, Nguyen Xuan Son started his career in his home country of Brazil. His birth name is Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes. This striker was involved in trouble related to age fraud when he was a young player.
Xuan Son was born in 1997 and started his career at the Bahia club training center, then moved to Vitoria. These are all famous clubs in Serie A - the highest level of professional football in Brazil.
In 2015, in a match at the Campeonato Baiano (Bahia state championship, Brazil), Xuan Son scored to help Vitoria (at that time using the U20 team to participate in the tournament) win against Bahia - the striker's former team. Bahia then complained to the organizing committee that Xuan Son (Rafaelson) cheated on his age.
Portuguese newspaper published news to clear Xuan Son's name.
"Vitoria U20 striker Rafaelson was accused of age fraud. According to the report, the player was 21 years old, not 18 as on his birth certificate. However, the club confirmed that this was just a mistake in the registration information of the player's brother," Bahia Noticias reported in 2015.
Vitoria Club later provided evidence in the form of hospital documents as well as Rafaelson's family records confirming that the player was born on March 30, 1997. The Brazilian team confirmed that Rafaelson was legally registered to play.
The suspicion that Rafaelson had falsified his age originated from information about his brother. Antonio Ranielson Fernandes - also a football player - was born in 1995. However, the information on the registration list with the organizing committee stated that Antonio was born in December 1996, which is only 4 months before Rafaelson was born.
Rafaelson has now acquired Vietnamese citizenship and changed his name to Nguyen Xuan Son.
According to Bahia Noticias, information about Xuan Son (Rafaelson)'s age had never been mentioned before. The tournament organizers only received complaints after the striker, born in 1997, played impressively and helped Vitoria win.
The suspicion of Nguyen Xuan Son's age fraud ended immediately after all the information about this player's profile was verified. No penalty was given and the player born in 1997 continued to play normally.
In 2018, at the age of 21, Xuan Son left Brazil and began his difficult journey abroad. He went to Japan to join Vegalta Sendai Club but did not play a single match for 2 years due to a serious injury. Xuan Son then moved to Naestved Club in the Danish 2nd Division and then went to Vietnam for a trial.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/su-that-vu-xuan-son-bi-to-gian-lan-tuoi-o-brazil-ar915919.html
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