Growing Up in Almada: Rafael Leao’s History & Football Journey

Leao grew up in a lively family surrounded by his many siblings, including his twin sisters Paulo and Bianca Leao, and Nadia Leao. The Portuguese town of Almada, where he grew up, holds plenty of history between him and football. Leao learned the game on the fields and riverbanks of his hometown. As a kid, he was addicted to playing ball every day, often skipping meals and only remembering dinner. He would cry emotionally, much like CR7, when he lost a game and would always return home with his jersey covered in dirt.

Our Biography of Rafael Leao tells you Facts about his Childhood Story, Early Life, Parents – (Mr and Mrs Conceição Leão), Family, Girlfriend/wife-to-be, Lifestyle, Net Worth and Personal Life.

In a nutshell, we give you the history of Rafael Leao, a Portuguese footballer of Almada family origin.

The Life story of the AC Milan Legend begins from his early days, right to the moment he became famous with AC Milan.

To give you a sweet taste of the engaging nature of Rafael Leao’s Bio, here is a pictorial summary of his life.

Yes, some fans are aware the forward is dubbed the ‘Portuguese Mbappe.’ This is because he has drawn comparisons with the French star Kylian Mbappe for his amazing style of play.

Despite the accolades, we realize that only a few people have perused the concise Life Story of Rafael Leao. We have prepared it for the love of the game. Now, without further ado, let’s begin.

Rafael Leao Childhood Story:

For Biography starters, he bears the nickname Rafblinks. Rafael was born on the 10th day of June, year 1999 to his Dad, Conceição Leão, and Mum, whose name is yet to be known, in the city of Almada in Portugal.

Upon his birth, he was given a name which means Lion-Heart. The footballer is one among six children (four brothers and twin sisters) born of the union between his mother and father, who are pictured here.

Early Life and Growing-Up Years:

The Almada native, Rafael, grew up surrounded by many siblings who keep him connected to his roots. Among them are his twin sisters, Paulo and Bianca Leao. He also has another sister, Nadia Leao, who is under ten years old as this article was written. The forward spent his childhood in the town of Almada. It is on the banks of the Tagus, opposite Lisbon.

The AC Milan forward, alongside his brothers, lived a difficult childhood, one which saw them make lots of sacrifices.

Among all his siblings, Rafael was different as his parents gave him a patronymic name. Are you aware that Leão means “lion?” The footballer was destined to live a life of power and domination.

Rafael Leao Family Background:

Although the forward’s parents were immigrants, they were far from being dirt poor but not rich. Even so, Leao has a near middle-class upbringing, and he is from a very humble family background.

Even as a millionaire footballer, his parents still go to work like the ordinary people in Lisbon. Rafael Leao’s mum is a hairdresser, while his Dad is a civil servant.

Researching the history of his poor background, the sharpshooter once gave fans a glimpse of the building where he grew up in Portugal.

The AC Milan star recognizes his family’s lack (poor status) with this photo. He even vowed to use his football money to fix this property.

Rafael Leao Family Origin:

Yes, football fans are aware that Baller hails from Portugal. The truth is, Rafael Leao has African ancestral roots as research shows his parents are from Africa, with different countries.

His father, like the parents of William Carvalho, hails from Angola, while his Leao’s mother has her roots in Sao-Tomé-Et-Principe. Both of Rafael Leao’s parents met as migrants in Portugal and decided to create a family.

Rafael Leao Biography – Football Story:

Growing up in the town of Almada, he became involved with soccer from a very young age.

In fact, the fields and riverbanks of Leao’s native town treasure his childhood memories of football. Remembering what he considers history, the AC Milan forward once said,

When I was a kid, I was adictedd to playing ball every day.

Sometimes I played without eating, and didn’t even get to snack or lunch from my parents.

After so much football, I would only came home to meet dinner time with dirty jersey. In fact, The new sneakers my Dad had bought me were always gets over used in no time.

Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leao cried whenever he lost games. Thou, his friends, never called him Cry Baby. He was a really emotional child, one who was concerned about not losing matches.

Education Facts – How Rafael Leao saw Schooling:

Initially, the footballer’s parents told him to focus mainly on academics. Rafael told them he was good at reconciling the two.

Back then, there was only happiness in winning games in football and not reading books. Leao went to basic school but had to stop so he could follow a dream. In his words during an interview;

I couldn’t keep a total focused on education simply because I was following my football dream. In the middle of my school classes I had to go out for football training. Truth is, I didn’t have the ideal schooling life that most people had.

Back then, when his brothers and sisters went to school, Rafael would remain in his family home so he could prepare for training. During Sundays, he would rest – to be physically well for the week, which goes very fast.

The Story of How Football Started:

Rafael started playing the game at the bottom of his building with friends. Fortunately, it turns out that the abode of the president of the Amora football club was just around his family’s home.

One day, around 7 or 8 years old, he spoke to me after seeing me dribbling my friends through his window. AMORA BOSS told me if I could join his club.

With much happiness, I went there – honouring his invitation.

During my first game, I discovered that playing street football was very different from ACADEMY football.

The Amora Tournament and Benfica Loss:

Rafael Leao did stay only three weeks at Amora FC. Within his first two, he got selected for a big tournament.

After impressing fans, Rafael got picked by Benfica, who then sent him to Foot 21, a structure that ceases to exist today.

Rafael Leao’s parents and Benfica agreed he would join them at the end of the season. Sadly, though, there came a problem. His Dad and Mum could not afford the constant transportation of their son to training.

This made Rafael opt out and join the famous youth academy at Sporting CP – which provided more favourable grounds.

Early Academy Life with the Green and Whites:

The then-soccer prodigy grew up in Sporting Lisbon’s youth system. By the time Leao was 14, his talent was difficult to ignore. The boy’s youth coach and mentor at the time, Tiago Fernandes, told France Football that:

“I have never seen a kid like Leao doing things with the ball. He does things that no-one could do.”

Just after that, Tiago Fernandes branded Leao as “the best player in the history of Sporting Academy.”

He also told L’Equipe that Rafael, as a leader (a youth captain), was certified as better than Cristiano Ronaldo – at the same age.

In fact, a strong claim still exists that this boy holds the honour of being the best player in the history of the Sporting CP Academy.

Rafael Leao Biography – The Road To Fame Story:

Indeed, Leao was worth the hype. The youngster progressed through the Sporting CP youth ranks for the next eight years before making his debut at the age of just 17.

In that match, he came on in the second half and netted against Braga.

Furthermore, he went into history books as the club’s youngest player to score against Porto in a 1–2 away loss.

Hilariously, Leao found the net by nutmegging the great Iker Casillas. In fact, Leao was part of the squad which won the Portuguese league cup title.

In as much as he would have loved to stay with the Verde e brancos, he had no choice but to leave. His exit was connected to an attack on the coach and players of the club by disgruntled fans.

With his alleged mutinous exit, Leao (aged 19) became a free agent and signed for Lille.

Rafael Leao Biography – Rise To Fame Story:

When Milan came calling, as it did to Ismael Bennacer, the Almada native gladly accepted because of the Red and Black’s commitment to promoting young players.

It was with Milan that Leao became famous for scoring the fastest goal in Serie A history in six seconds. This is the fastest-ever goal scored in Europe’s top five leagues.

Standing at 6ft 2, the big striker has shown that he already possesses key attributes needed by the modern-day forward.

His movement has been compared to that of Vinicius Junior, while his strength makes him ideal as Karim Adeyemi.

With a predatory instinct and sharp claws in front of the goal, better days lie ahead for the young Lion. The rest, as we say, is history.

Does Rafael Leao have a Girlfriend or Wife to be?

Are you here to get info about the forward in love? Do you have a burning desire to discover who is Rafael Leao’s girlfriend? So are we, and in all honesty, we’ve searched all over, still no signs of a Wag.

Could they be secretly dating? If yes, then it is only a matter of time before his private life goes public because soccer abhors secrets.

But we think someone as sharp as Leao in front of a goal wouldn’t have issues in managing a private affair.

For this, we conclusively says that Rafael is likely to have a girlfriend, maybe someone who is approved by his parents as his future wife and mother of his children.

Thou at the time of writing, he prefers to make the relationship private. This was the closest we could get –  of an alleged girlfriend.

Personal Life:

To get a clear picture, we’ll tell you more about the striker from Angola and Sao-Tomé-Et-Principe family roots.

First and foremost, Rafael Leao agrees he is a shy boy, and he loves the feel/sight of water bodies.

The striker does spend the best of his free time alone and away from everything in order to restore his inner strength.

Once upon a time, while restoring his energies – far away from football – he reflected soberly on his past and told his fans;

In this life, you will never be able to please everyone no matter how good a person you are.

They will find countless things to try to hit you and that is where you have to be strong.

Also in this world, not everybody wants to see you win. In fact, Not everything on planet earth is wonderful.

Rafael Leao Lifestyle:

Let’s discuss how the sharpshooter makes and spends his money. To start with, his net worth is valued at approximately 3 million euros (2020 stats).

However, we don’t need the figures to know that Leao is living a luxurious lifestyle – easily noticeable by his looks and cars.

Evidence of such a lifestyle includes the luxury house/apartment in which he has in Milan. Their maintenance is legitly backed by Leao’s whooping salary of €39,473 monthly and €1.4 million per annum. See some of his exotic fleet of exotic cars.

Rafael Leao Family Life:

The forward describes his household as his greatest treasure which anchored with him during tough waters.

Here, we’ll bring you facts about Rafael Leao’s parents. We will also make details about his siblings and relatives.

About Rafael Leao Father:

Do you know why he mimes a phone when he scores?… The striker does that for his dad, who watches all his games and then phones him afterwards to talk about it. The phone call celebration is just a way to tell his Daddy that,

Hey Dad, I just to scored. Let’s talk about it later.

The striker’s scoring form is fueled by the desire to please his dad. Rafael Leao’s Dad is someone who means a lot to him.

He describes him as a person who can be friendly, cold, hard and very direct. In his words,

If he has something to tell me, he will say it straight out. My Dad is sometimes hard to hear, but in the end, he is always right.

About Rafael Leao’s Mother:

Around February 2019, the footballer gifted his Mum a hair salon. The surprise took place at Avenida Paiva Couceiro, a core business area in Lisbon.

Behold, his mum, launched the salon by making his son her first customer – thanks to the realization of her dreams. Speaking to Newspaper Accord, Mummy’s boy once said;

“Having a hair salon is something my Mum Wants. What I can do is help my family and give them the best  i can afford. This is also an investment”

About Rafael Leao Brothers:

In an interview, the AC Milan star said he has three brothers. At the time he signed for the club, these three boys stood by him – a feat that made fans think they were his siblings. However, it is sooner or later before we know the name of his three brothers.

About Rafael Leao Sisters:

The footballer’s family is blessed with twins – Paulo and Bianca. They were ten years old (around 2019).

That is not the end of his sisters. Rafael also has another little sister, Nadia, who is four years younger than Paulo and Bianca.

About Rafael Leao’s Relatives:

Like our esteemed readers, we are curious to know about his maternal and paternal grandparents.

There’s also a shroud of obscurity on the identities of Rafael’s uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces. We’ll let you know when we find out.

Untold Facts About Rafael Leao:

To wrap up this article on the forward’s Biography, behold lesser-known truths and trivia about him.

Why his Neighbours called the Police on him:

During the outbreak of COVID-19, Rafael Leao returned to his family in Portugal – after the stop of the Italian League.

In the quest to keep up his training pace in order not to lose his shape, he turned his music loud – which irritated his neighbours.

They made a complaint at the police station for Noise Nuisance. According to complaints from residents of Avenida Central do Pinhal Conde da Cunha, in Amora, they said;

Every day, Rafael LeAo takes a friend who we know as a DJ to his house. Together, they agree to put on loud music.

Moments after the report, the Portuguese authorities tried to speak to the athlete, but they got no response.

How he sees Zlatan:

Scoring the fastest goal in Serie A implies he is a cheetah and a lion. Around November 2020, Leao’s post on his Instagram made fans understand his position on who the King of Milan is – also where he stands.

Without question, Leao must be pretty honoured to be playing with Ibrahimovic Zlatan in real life. The striker sees him as his older brother.

Relationship With Kylian:

There is a reason the AC Milan forward is called the Portuguese Mbappe. If you look closely, you will observe that his style of play, age and speed that is similar to the French star.

More so, Kylian Mbappe is a source of inspiration to Leao, who wants to win medals and titles like the French star.

FIFA 2020 Ratings:

Rafael Leao has an overall rating of 74 points with a potential of 83. That’s not too good if you ask us. Record holders deserve better, and we hope FIFA address this in no distant time. In terms of style of play, the left winger alongside notables like Nico Williams and Vinicius Junior share similar qualities.

Rafael Leao Religion:

As his name suggests, there is a high likelihood that the striker is a Christian believer. Leao must be practising Christianity. It is worthwhile to note that his name, Rafael is a variant of the name Raphael.

EndNote:

Thanks for reading this informative piece on Rafael Leao. The Footballer’s childhood story and Biography teach us that strength does not come from physical capacity but from an indomitable will.

It behoves us now to commend the striker’s parents for their support to his career in words and deeds.

We take pride in delivering childhood stories and biography facts with accuracy and fairness.

If you see anything that doesn’t look right, do well to contact us. Otherwise, let us know what you think of Leao in the comment section.