In the extensive interview he gave this Saturday to the official media of Benfica, Rafa Silva says that he leaves the Luz club "without resentment", where he was for eight years, also leaving compliments to the president Rui Costa, whom he called a "friend".

"Rui, for me, it is difficult for me to say President Rui, because for me Rui is a friend. He was one of the people who brought me here, at the time. And that's what he is. He welcomes very well, he was a player, he knows very well what we feel, he knows very well what we went through, he was a great player. And then, there is the friendship that I ended up creating with him, it was a very important friendship for me. He is a friend and will always be a friend. Due to everything that we have created here, due to all these years, many years together, many years of relationship. And there it is, that's what I like about football. It doesn't matter much what we are, it matters the way we treat each other", guaranteed the forward, before recalling the trophies won at the service of the Luz club.

"They weren't easy. I would like to have more, obviously. I feel that many times we could have had another outcome, but football is like that. For me, football and life are like that. Not everything is the way we want it, we will not always win, and knowing how to be, knowing how to lose, is also something that I had to learn, and knowing how to deal with it, because it is not easy. People think that we leave here and everything is fine, because they earned their money and now they go home, they go on vacation. Things are not like that. But this is our life. We genuinely like what we do, and, moreover, what we like the most is the place we are representing, because, there it is, it is the place that gives us the right conditions to be able to evolve, and to be able to be what we will be, and what we are. And so it ends up, for me, being a bit of mixed emotions. Happy for the achievements, but there could have been more", he stressed, speaking of the relationship with the fans.

"The truth is one: Benfica when it is winning becomes what Benfica is. Benfica when it is not winning – and I say this from when it is winning trophies or when it is losing trophies... When it is winning a game and when it is losing a game, it goes to extremes... Of good and bad. So, I think that we have to start to dose a little bit the way we treat people, because we are also people here inside, we are doing everything that is within our reach to be able to have the best outcome in the game, in this case, in each game. Trying to win, because what matters is the end, what matters are the trophies, in the end, that we conquer. And I think that many times, because a game doesn't go well, starting to doubt what is being done doesn't help. And it will never help anyone. The pressure? We have pressure. That is part of our daily life, it is not because they say that A, B or C is bad or good that will help. The goal is to support Benfica, and the goal is for Benfica to win titles. We never put ourselves ahead of the Club, and I speak for myself, I don't put myself ahead of the Club and I will never put myself ahead of any club", stressed the forward.

Guaranteed to be a Benfica fan at heart, Rafa says he feels that he does not feel he has "given much to Benfica" over the last few years.

"I am a Benfica fan, yes. It's true. I have no problem saying that. I love Benfica. Nowadays, it confuses me a lot how what matters is photos on social networks, what matters is kissing the symbol or the way a goal is celebrated, when one should look a lot at what the person is, what the person does and also what the person... for what the person feels for the Club. It is not because I do not show feelings, because it is the way I am as a person, that I do not feel Benfica or that I am 'shitting' on Benfica, or whatever. I think that the way I was at Benfica was the right way. It is my way of being, it is my way of being. I will not change because people think that I should put things on social networks, or have to celebrate more effusively, because that is not what makes me love Benfica more or what makes me hate Benfica. I like Benfica and I love Benfica, in my own way, and it will always be like that", stressed the forward.

"I don't feel like I gave much to Benfica. What I feel, and what I will always feel, is: I felt Benfica. I was here because I wanted to, I stayed here because I decided to stay here, I was never forced. And, above all, my family was happy here, so, if my family was happy, and we had a hard time. There was, obviously, and there is life. We went through good situations, we went through bad situations, but I honestly don't hold a grudge. But I think that one thing that you also have to have at Benfica, and you have to feel, is a little bit of respect and gratitude, because we are not robots, we are not machines. I saw many of my colleagues and many of my friends, who gave a lot to Benfica, and people have no idea of the feeling they create in people by doing what they do", stressed the number 21, before outlining the differences between the Rafa who arrived at Benfica and the one who is now leaving.

"Good beard. This is me. After eight years, I learned a lot. Without a doubt, I am a set of the two, but I am much more this one, because we will always look back and we will always think that we are an improved version of ourselves, and that is what I think of myself. I think I got worse in some aspects too, but that's part of it. But, above all, I tried to improve the things that I did not do so well and the way that was perhaps not so good. Maybe. Without a doubt, I am a set of the two, but I am the player who said goodbye in this last game [with Arouca], obviously. And the person", he concluded.

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