Fortune very much favours footballers - now more than ever and the luxuries that follow are pretty conventional for any top pro. Bruno Fernandes de Souza was arguably destined for these things - until his career hit the brakes when he became involved in a murder scandal. 

Bruno, an agile goalkeeper with bags of potential, began his career at the Brazilian Serie A club Atletico Mineiro in 2002. However, it wasn’t until 2005 when he made his debut at the age of 21 and he would go on to make a reasonable 24 appearances that year. Unfortunately, when the new season came around he was not able to emulate this - making just 2 appearances. Corinthians came to Bruno’s aid when they signed him for $2 million, funded by a London based company called Media Sports Investments, yet he never managed to break into the first team. Corinthians’ manager at the time, Emerson Leao, preferred home-grown keeper Marcelo and this led to frustration from both Bruno and the investors at MSI. Shortly after Corinthians’ relegation to Serie B, Bruno was loaned out to Flamengo. After first team goalkeeper Diego became injured, Bruno cemented himself in the first team after an impressive debut against Internacional. The fans instantly took a liking to Bruno due to his heroics in 2007, when Flamengo took on Botafogo in the Rio de Janeiro State Championship, making three penalty saves in a shootout which led to them to winning the cup. This impressive season saw rumours circulate that he may make a summer move to Europe. After agreeing a deal worth $3 million, Bruno picked up where he left off. Flamengo had been reunited with a newly recruited Adriano, a familiar face to the club, who’d been there previously 8 years before. Unusually for a goalkeeper, Bruno would also help the team down the other end of the pitch, with goals from set pieces being Bruno's forte - scoring a total of 4 goals. His first set piece goal came from a free kick against Coronel Bolognesi in 2008 - Flamengo would go on to win 2-0. Defender Fabio Luciano would eventually call time on his career, passing down the armband to Bruno on his 100th Serie A Game against Sao Paulo. His time at Flamengo is one that fans can reflect on, winning the Rio de Janeiro State League for 3 consecutive seasons from 2007-2009, with Bruno’s biggest achievement being the Serie A title in 2010. 

With the world at his feet, Bruno and many of his teammates would organise parties, particularly ones involving lots of female attention. In May 2009 - Eliza Samundio would attend a party hosted by Bruno. Eliza, a Brazilian model who’d also been affiliated with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, began a relationship with the shot stopper despite him being married with two daughters. Down the line of their relationship Eliza became pregnant, much to the dismay of Bruno, and Eliza wanted to keep their child. No amount of imploring could change Eliza’s mind, leading Bruno to take drastic measures. He would kidnap and force Eliza to take unknown drugs in order to induce a miscarriage, although thankfully this was unsuccessful and their son Bruninho (short for ‘Little Bruno’) was born. Eliza could file for a paternity suit if she could prove that Bruno was the father through a DNA test and the financial support from a handsomely paid footballer would undoubtedly go far. The stress of his second life was catching up to him and in conjunction to this, AC Milan placed an offer on the player. Coincidentally Eliza and Bruninho went missing - until Bruninho was found safely without any sign of Eliza and of course, this alerted the police to suspect Bruno. Although he remained adamant that Eliza would be found safely, he was taken into custody on the charges of kidnapping Eliza - before the birth of Bruninho. Initially Bruno was sentenced to 4 years for the kidnapping which provoked the whole country to take notice, including his team Flamengo, who wasted no time in terminating all ties with the player. 

Bruno would act concerned and worried for Eliza whenever presented to the media - until his 17 year old cousin became the first to admit his involvement in conspiring to murder Eliza. The story goes that on 4th June 2010 Eliza and Bruninho were driven to a flat in Rua Araruama, Belo Horizonte. Upon arrival she was tied up and strangled by professional hitman ‘Bola’, who then fed her body to his dogs - this cost Bruno $8,000. In 2013 the gang received sentences between 5-22 years for the murder and kidnap charges, with Bruno receiving the longest. According to a childhood friend Romao, Bruno tried to commit suicide twice while awaiting trial. 

Just 6 years into his 22 year sentence, the then 32 year old would be released on the grounds that his appeal was taking too long to process. As imagined, fury spread throughout Brazil upon hearing the news. In an interview, Bruno showed very little remorse for the nature of his actions. 

“What happened, happened. I made a mistake, a serious one, but mistakes happen in life - I'm not a bad guy. People tried to bury my dreams because of one mistake, but I asked God for forgiveness, so I'm carrying on with my career, dude.” 

Legally Bruno had the right to return to playing football, as part of a semi-open programme in which the objective is to rehabilitate the player by maintaining his job and family life while still under surveillance. Bruno’s curfew would be between 8pm-6am, with regular court appearances. As imagined, Eliza’s mother would be furious with his release, fearing that Brunhino could be harmed. Several clubs didn’t hesitate to offer him a contract. In 2017 Boe Esporte offered Bruno a 2 year deal, perhaps wanting some publicity around the 4th tier club. Cardio Center, Nutrends Nutrition and Magsul, who were sponsors of the club, ended their contracts immediately. He only appeared 5 times before being ordered to return to prison. Two years later saw Bruno try and make another miraculous return to football when he signed for Pocos de Caldas - he lasted just 48 minutes. Pocos de Caldas were the equivalent of a non league side and as such, they couldn't produce a schedule of their upcoming season. In July 2020 Bruno signed for Rio Branco, a team in Serie D, sparking outrage from fans, along with their women's team, who quit in protest.

The now 36 year old won’t be making a return to football as he plans on becoming an investor. The crimes were heinous, hopefully haunting him for the rest of his life, as much as he tries to suppress it.

Article by Nathan Ousby