On Saturday morning, Rafa Silva gave an extensive interview to Benfica's platform BPlay, in which he talked about the difficulties he has been feeling in recent days, after playing his last game with the Luz club.

In the extensive conversation, the forward assumes that "it was time" for him to leave, because, he stresses, "I would have to leave and I would leave on my own two feet". Rafa also recalls some of the coaches and players he has met.

"It's difficult... It's difficult when you have to give up something that has been your home for so long, isn't it? Eight years. People think it's easy for us to leave, to give up, that it's just a job... But we spend so much time here, and so much time with these people, so much time on this pitch that it becomes a part of our lives. It's always difficult, but I leave happy because I know I did my job and I know that the people I leave behind are friends and people I care about very much in my life," Rafa began by saying, before explaining why he didn't want any tributes.

"No player plays for tributes. They play to stand out. I think I never, and I've always said this... I never wanted cameras, I never wanted awards, I never wanted any of that. I had no interest in it, I will never have any interest in it. My interest has always been for people to like me as a man, for my character, for who I am, not for Rafa the player. Some people like it, some don't, that's part of life, but... tributes are not for me. I don't want any of that," he said.

In the duel against Arouca, his last as an eagle, Rafa Silva declined to take a penalty on two occasions. Now, the forward explains his reasons.

"I knew it was my last game, most people knew it was my last game, but for me what mattered was winning the game. That's what I always did in every game I played for Benfica, and when I couldn't be there, the goal was always to win the game, never what A, B or C did. The individual doesn't count for anything, and there, for me, scoring or not scoring wasn't the point. I've never taken penalties, I had no reason to start now. It didn't make sense to me," said the forward, who was applauded by the Luz crowd as he left the pitch.

"It's always difficult because, as I said earlier, I'm giving up something that is basically almost my career, it's eight years. People don't have much of an idea of what eight years in a club is, and I think that's what I felt at that moment: OK, this is happening, it's my time, I decided it should be. It shows that I have a great family, outside of the family I have at home, and I've always said that. For me, the most important thing will always be the connections I make and not what I do as a player, because that doesn't interest me much," he said.

"As I said, this is going to cost me more than I could ever imagine, because I knew I would have to leave and I would leave on my own two feet. I would never in my life expect that I would no longer be able to represent. I always said that the time would come, and I would know when it was time to leave, and that's what I did. I reached a point where I felt it was time, that it was my time. And that's it," he concluded.

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