Rink, whose great-grandfather had emigrated from Heidelberg to Brazil in 1904, was naturalized as a German citizen and subsequently called up to the German national team by then manager Berti Vogts in September 1998. He was the first Brazilian to play for Germany. The attacker took part in friendlies against Romania and Malta. A year afterwards, while still playing for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, he was once again called up, this time for the 1999 Confederations Cup in Mexico. He played for Germany in the 2000 UEFA European Championship as well. In total, Rink was able to collect 13 international caps between 1998 and 2000.