Rafael Tolói Cavaliere OMRI (born 10 October 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Atalanta whom he captains, and the Italy national team.
Tolói represented his native country of Brazil internationally at the under-20 level in 2009, but switched allegiance at the senior grade to Italy in 2021 after meeting FIFA's five-year residency requirement.
[4] He had been living in Italy since his move to Atalanta early in the 2015–16 season, and had years earlier acquired Italian citizenship, for which he was eligible because his great-grandparents hailed from Treviso, Veneto.
Born in Glória d'Oeste, Mato Grosso, he started playing for Goiás Esporte Clube in 2008,[3] and helped his club win the Campeonato Goiano in 2009.
[4][5][20][21] He was subsequently named to the Italian squad by manager Roberto Mancini on March 19, 2021,[22][23] and made his debut on the 31st in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Lithuania, playing the entire match in a 2–0 away victory.
[26] On 11 July, Tolói won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory over England at Wembley Stadium in the final, after a 1–1 draw in extra-time.