Dinamo’s Brazilian football wonderkid to get Croatian citizenship

14-year-old Brazilian footballer Rafael Gomez Cirino Belinho will receive Croatian citizenship, the Croatian Olympic Committee confirmed in their last session. 

Belinho is expected to play for the Croatian junior national team and later for the senior team if his development continues as planned.

“On the proposal of the Croatian Football Federation, the Council of the Croatian Olympic Committee has given a positive expert opinion on the naturalisation of footballer Rafael Gomez Cirino, also known as Belinho, the young Brazilian from Dinamo, born in 2009, who is competing for the Croatian junior national team,” stated the Croatian Olympic Committee’s website.

Belinho currently plays for Dinamo Zagreb’s youth side and is renowned as a tremendous talent. 

When he arrived in Croatia, after his father moved to Croatia from Brazil for work, initially played for Vinodol from Novi Vinodolski, and later he joined Dinamo Zagreb. 

Everyone who has watched him play describes him as an excellent player and exceptional prospect, and his manager, Andy Bara, told Index that he is a player worth 100 million euros.

Belinho could overshadow another Brazilian who was at Dinamo Zagreb, former Croatian International Eduardo Da Silva, who became one of the biggest transfers in the club’s history after joining as a 15-year-old from Brazil.