On This Day: Brazilian Kaka got Italian citizenship; Barca star Rafinha was born

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (February 12th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 1993 - Barca star Rafinha was born

On 12 February 1993, The youngest of the two Alcantaras was born on March 12 of 1993 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, although he has Spanish citizenship. Son of the great former player Mazinho, Rafael 'Rafinha' Alcantara moved to Spain at a young age as his father played for Valencia, Celta and Elche. 

In 2006, at the age of 13, Rafinha joined his brother Thiago in FC Barcelona’s youth system.

He started his career with Barcelona, making his debut with the first team in 2011. After a loan at Celta, he played his first La Liga match for the former club in 2014.

Rafinha represented both Spain and Brazil at youth level, before debuting with the latter at a senior level in 2015.

On This Day in 2007 - Kaka Turns Italian

On 12 February 2007, AC Milan and Brazil star Kaka became an Italian citizen. But he continues to play for Brazil.

The midfielder joined Milan in 2003 after two seasons with São Paulo. The Italian side paid €8.5M for him and he immediately started providing dividends for them, scoring a total of 14 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions in his first year there as Milan won both the league and the Supercoppa Italiana and he was named the 2004 Serie A Player of the Year.

He got off to a strong start at the beginning of the  2006-07 season, which would ultimately result in him winning the 2007 Ballon d'Or. In the middle of the season, he applied for Italian citizenship, which was granted and made official in a private ceremony on 12 February.

The move was not intended to alter his international status, as he was already locked into playing for Brazil and ineligible to play for Italy. (He also maintained his Brazilian citizenship). Instead, the move allowed Milan to claim him as a European Union player for UEFA quotas, opening up a spot in the team for a non-EU player. After the ceremony, Kaka said "It is an honour. Now I both Italian and Brazilian. I am very happy. This helps not only me, but also Milan."

He remained with Milan until June 2009, when he joined Real Madrid. In 2014, he moved the the US and played for Orlando City until his retirement in 2017.

12 February 2003 - Raul Takes Two To Become Number One

On 12 February 2003, Raúl González scored two goals in a 3-1 win over Germany to become Spain's all-time top scorer.

Raúl, who played 16 seasons at Real Madrid before moving to Schalke in 2010, made his first full international appearance in 1996. He scored only five times in his first three years, but hit his stride in 1999 with ten goals--the most ever scored for Spain by one player in a single year. He never replicated that performance, but continued to be a reliable striker and took over as captain in 2002.

The friendly with Germany came in the midst of Spain's qualification campaign for Euro 2004. Played in Mallorca, Raúl scored the opening goal in the 30th minute. It was the 30th of his career, beating the former record of 29 held jointly with his Real Madrid teammate Fernando Hierro. Germany's Fredi Bobic equalized for the visitors eight minutes later, but Raúl restored the lead in with a 77th-minute penalty kick. Guti added a third for the hosts to end the day at 3-1.

Raúl scored a total of 44 goals for Spain before his retirement from international play in 2006. A record at the time, it has since been surpassed by David Villa, who scored 59 goals between 2005 and 2014.

12 February 1949 - Rowley Handles The Glovers

On 12 February 1949, Manchester United got their record FA Cup victory, beating Yeovil Town 8-0, with five of the goals coming from center forward Jack Rowley (pictured).

United were the defending cup holders, then in their fourth season under manager Matt Busby. Non-League side Yeovil Town had done an impressive job just to make it to the Fifth Round meeting against United, having advanced with wins over Romford (4-0), Weymouth (4-0), Division Two side Bury (3-1), and Division One side Sunderland (2-1, aet).

But that's where their good fortune ended, as they ran into a buzzsaw against United. Playing at Maine Road (because Old Trafford was still unusable after being bombed in World War II), the Red Devils destroyed the Glovers with Rowley's five goals, two from Ronnie Burke, and one from Charlie Mitten. The 8-0 margin is United's best in the FA Cup and Yeovil Town's worst across all competitions.

Manchester United went on to beat Hull in the next round, but fell to Wolves, the eventual winners, in the semifinals. Rowley left United in 1955 as the club's leading scorer with 211 goals in all competitions, though that total was later passed by Wayne Rooney (currently at 250), Bobby Charlton (249), and Dennis Law (237)