Bruno César Zanaki (born 3 November 1988) is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for Portuguese club

Penafiel Penafiel ( or () is a municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the northern Portuguese district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion, the population was 72,265 in 2011, in an area of . History The region ...

Club career

Early career

Bruno César began his professional career with

Ulbra The Lutheran University of Brazil (Portuguese: or ULBRA) is a university which covers several states throughout Brazil. History The university has its roots in the parish school of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Canoas (CELSP), in Canoas, Rio ...

in 2009, before moving on to Noroeste in the same season. At Noroeste, he made his senior debut against Ituano in the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

, where he came on as a 64th-minute substitute. Following the end of the

2009 Campeonato Paulista The 2009 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 108th season of São Paulo's top-flight professional football league. The season began on January 21 and ended on May 3. Corinthians were crowned the lea ...

, Bruno César moved to

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

side

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwadwo ...

. At Santo André, he made his professional league debut away to

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as "Coxa-Branca" or "Coxa", is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest f ...

. His professional league debut saw him score Santo André's fourth in a 4–2 away win. For the 2010 season, he managed to break through into Santo André's starting 11 where he scored 7 goals in 21 appearances and helped his side reach the

2010 Campeonato Paulista The 2010 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 109th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Santos were crowned champions after a 5–5 tie on aggregate score against Santo André ...

final, where his side lost to Santos over two legs.

Corinthians

Bruno César would join

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

from

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B is commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B (Série B), and until 2022 was officially called Brasileirão Sportingbet by sponsorship reasons. It is the second tier of the Brazilian football league system ...

side in May 2010. He debuted for the ''Timão'' on 27 May in a

match against Grêmio Barueri. He marked his first team debut with a goal which would tie the match at 2–2. His debut season with Corinthians saw him score 14 goals in 31 matches, which helped his side finish third in the league, thus granting his side qualification to the

2011 Copa Libertadores first stage The First Stage of the 2011 Copa Santander Libertadores de América ran from January 25 to February 3, 2011 (first legs: January 25–27; second legs: February 1–3). Format The twelve teams were drawn into six ties on November 25, 2010, in As ...

. His impressive first season with Corinthians would see him be awarded by the

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country ...

(CBF) with the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Newcomer award. Bruno César's second season with Corinthians would see him feature regularly in Corinthians' 2011 Campeonato Paulista campaign, where he helped his side reach the final of the competition, where they were defeated by Santos. Prior to start of the 2011 league campaign, he would be transferred to Benfica.

Benfica

On 28 March 2011, Benfica announced the acquisition of Bruno César for a reported €6 million transfer fee, with Bruno César moving to the ''Encarnados'' in the summer. Bruno César made his Benfica debut against

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

in a UEFA Champions League third round qualifying match. On 20 August, he made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

debut against

Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chairma ...

at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, its ...

, where he scored in injury time. His goal-scoring form in the league would continue in the next several matches with goals against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

and Académica de Coimbra. Bruno César's goal-scoring form would see then Benfica head coach

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 12 ...

select him in his starting 11. Jesus' selection of the player would pay off, as Bruno César scored in Benfica's second Champions League group stage match against Oțelul Galați. He would continue to demonstrate his goal-scoring form, scoring in a third round Taça de Portugal match against

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It al ...

. In Benfica's next

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

match, he would play a pivotal role in an important win – he helped his side pick up an important away win at

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

by scoring Benfica's first goal in a 2–0 win at

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

. Following his excellent goal scoring form, Bruno César suffered a two-month goal scoring drought through November and December. He ended his scoring drought by scoring in an away match against

União de Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

. After January 2013, Bruno César played an important role in Benfica's end-of-season fortunes. Despite Benfica losing the Primeira Liga title to rivals

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, he helped his side claim the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

title for a fourth consecutive season, and helped the ''Encarnados'' reach the quarter-finals of the

, where they were defeated by eventual winners

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. The arrivals of wingers

Eduardo Salvio Eduardo Antonio Salvio (born 13 July 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club UNAM. Salvio started his career with Lanús in 2008. After moving to Europe in 2010, he won two UEFA Europa League, with ...

and

Ola John Ola John (born 19 May 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for Al-Hazem as a left winger. Born in Liberia, he has represented the Netherlands national team. A product of FC Twente's youth system, he played with their first team from ...

saw Bruno César feature less for his club side in the domestic league campaign for the 2012–13 season. He would be utilized by Jorge Jesus primarily in the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

and the

campaigns. The first half of the 2012–13 season would see Bruno César make 16 appearances, six of which came in the Primeira Liga. His limited playing time during the first half of the season would see him leave the club in January 2013.

Al-Ahli

On 21 January 2013, Bruno César joined Saudi club

Al-Ahli Jeddah Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club ( ar, النادي الأهلي السعودي) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Jeddah, that competes in the second division of Saudi Arabian football, following their relegation from the Saud ...

after the club paid Benfica a €5.5 million transfer fee. Bruno César made his debut for his new club against Al-Wehda in a

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

match. He made his continental debut for Al-Ahli in a 2013 AFC Champions League group stage match, against Qatari side

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was estab ...

on 27 February. César would score his first league goal against Ettifaq on 3 March, in a 4–1 away win. The following week would see Bruno César score again, this time a brace against

Najran Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen fr ...

, which would help his side defeat the opposition 5–1. His goal-scoring form would continue as he scored three goals in continental competitions against Iranian side Sepahan Isfahan (twice) and Qatari side El Jaish.

Sporting CP

On 31 July 2015, Bruno César joined

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

from Al-Ahli Jeddah for a €2 million transfer fee. On 14 November 2015, after just 11 matches for Estoril, he joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

on a free transfer and signed a four-year contract lasting until June 2020. He scored two goals in his Sporting debut, against

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

. By the end of the season, he played 18 matches in all competition, scoring four goals.

International career

Bruno César received his first international call-up by Brazil national team manager

Mano Menezes Luiz Antônio Venker de Menezes (born 11 June 1962), known as Mano Menezes, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Sport Club Internacional, Internacional. He managed the Brazil national f ...

for international friendlies against the

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in November 2011. César debuted for the ''Canarinha'' on 10 November in a 2–0 win against Gabon. His second cap came four days later against Egypt in another 2–0 win.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Grêmio *

Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 The Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 is the official Brazilian national football tournament for U-20 teams. The Rio Grande do Sul Football Association (FGF) created the competition in 2006 and since 2015 it is organized by the Brazilian Football C ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores The Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores (or ''Belo Horizonte Youth Cup'', in English), also known as Taça Belo Horizonte de Futebol Júnior or Taça BH, is a cup competition usually played by 36 Brazilian under-20 football teams, most of them from ...

: 2008 Corinthians *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Benfica *

: 2011–12 Al Ahli *

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

: 2014–15 Sporting CP *

: 2017–18 *

: 2018–19

Individual

* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Newcomer:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

Stats at ogol.com.br
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cesar, Bruno 1988 births Living people People from Santa Bárbara d'Oeste Association football midfielders Association football forwards Brazilian footballers Canoas Sport Club players Esporte Clube Noroeste players Esporte Clube Santo André players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players S.L. Benfica footballers Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players G.D. Estoril Praia players Sporting CP footballers CR Vasco da Gama players F.C. Penafiel players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Saudi Professional League players Liga Portugal 2 players Brazil international footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Footballers from São Paulo (state)