Bruno Soriano Llido (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbɾuno soˈɾjano ˈʎiðo]; born 12 June 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Bruno Soriano
Soriano with Villarreal in 2015
Personal information
Full name Bruno Soriano Llido[1]
Date of birth (1984-06-12) 12 June 1984 (age 40)[1]
Place of birth Artana, Spain
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+12 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1992–1993 Artana
1993–1997 Betxí
1997–2001 Villarreal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Artana
2003–2005 Villarreal C
2004–2007 Villarreal B 57 (0)
2006–2020 Villarreal 324 (25)
Total 381 (25)
International career
2010–2016 Spain 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent his entire career with Villarreal since making his first appearance with the first team in 2006, and played 425 official games for them. He missed nearly three whole seasons in his later career, due to injury.[2]

Soriano made his debut for Spain in 2010, and represented the nation at Euro 2016.

Club career

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Born in Artana, Province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Soriano joined Villarreal CF's youth system at the age of 13, but left the club four years later to return to his hometown.[3] He then played for local side Artana CF in the regional leagues before returning to Villarreal in 2003, where he featured for the third and second teams.[4]

Soriano made his debut for the first team on 15 July 2006, in a 1–2 home loss to NK Maribor in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.[5] His La Liga occurred on 1 October, in a 2–1 away win against RCD Mallorca.[6]

Soriano made a permanent switch to the main squad in 2007–08, and was a regular fixture in the side's callups throughout the season, though not a regular starter. On 14 November 2007, he scored his first professional goal, in a 4–2 victory at UD Las Palmas in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey;[7] he had the same status the following year, as the Yellow Submarine qualified for the UEFA Europa League in fifth place.[8]

In 2009–10, Soriano became first-choice for Villarreal, finally winning the battle for starting duties over Uruguayan Sebastián Eguren. He only missed one game in 38 the following campaign, with the club finishing fourth and returning to the UEFA Champions League.

In the 2012 off-season, shortly after suffering relegation, Soriano received a 9 million offer from neighbouring Valencia CF, which he rejected in order to stay and help achieve promotion,[9] also signing a new four-year contract until 2020.[10] In 2013–14, with Villarreal back in the top flight, he scored a career-best six goals – three through penalty kicks – to help his team finish in sixth position and qualify to the Europa League.[11]

On 31 December 2015, Soriano netted through a superbly taken free kick to help defeat Valencia 1–0 at the Estadio El Madrigal.[12] The following matchday, he scored both of his team's goals in 2–1 away win against Deportivo de La Coruña, the second coming through an injury-time penalty.[13]

Soriano spent the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons and most of 2019–20 on the sidelines, due to a knee injury.[14][15][16] He finally made his return against Sevilla FC, on 22 June 2020.[17][18]

On 19 July 2020, aged 36, Soriano retired from football.[19]

International career

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On 5 August 2010, Vicente del Bosque named Soriano as one of the three new players for the Spanish team after the victorious FIFA World Cup in South Africa, for a friendly with Mexico.[20] He made his debut on the 11th, playing 61 minutes in the 1–1 draw in Mexico City.[21]

On 17 May 2016, Soriano was included in a provisional squad of 25 for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament,[22] and also made the final list.[23] He made his debut in the competition on 17 June at the age of 32, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for David Silva in a 3–0 group stage win against Turkey at the Allianz Riviera.[24]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[25]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Villarreal 2006–07 La Liga 3 0 1 0 1 0 5 0
2007–08 21 0 4 1 6 0 31 1
2008–09 25 0 2 0 7 0 34 0
2009–10 33 0 4 0 6 0 43 0
2010–11 37 0 4 0 15 0 56 0
2011–12 37 3 2 0 7 0 46 3
2012–13 Segunda División 36 4 1 0 37 4
2013–14 La Liga 36 6 3 0 39 6
2014–15 24 2 5 1 8 2 37 5
2015–16 31 5 2 0 12 2 45 7
2016–17 34 5 1 0 10 1 45 6
2017–18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018–19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019–20 7 0 0 0 7 0
Career total 324 25 29 2 72 5 425 32

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[26]
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2010 1 0
2011 1 0
2012 2 0
2014 2 0
2016 4 0
Total 10 0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bruno". Diario AS. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  2. ^ Pérez, Javier (19 July 2020). "El Villarreal despide a Cazorla y Bruno Soriano como leyendas del club" [Villarreal bids farewell to Cazorla to Bruno Soriano as club legends]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Bruno Soriano, Villarreal's new appearance leader". Villarreal USA. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  4. ^ "BRUNO SORIANO LLIDÓ. Biografia" [BRUNO SORIANO LLIDÓ. Biography] (in Catalan). Artanapèdia. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  5. ^ "El Villarreal pierde contra el Maribor y se complica en Europa" [Villarreal lose against Maribor and are in European hot waters]. Marca (in Spanish). 15 July 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  6. ^ García, Gregorio (1 October 2006). "Forlán hace que el Villarreal olvide la crisis" [Forlán makes Villarreal forget about crisis]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Zaragoza beaten by lowly Pontevedra in Copa". ESPN FC. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  8. ^ Andrés, A. (6 August 2008). "Bruno, listo para ser el 'comodín' de Pellegrini" [Bruno, ready to be Pellegrini's 'joker']. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  9. ^ Ballester, Nacho (17 July 2012). "El Villarreal rechaza 9 'kilos' del Valencia por Bruno Soriano" [Villarreal reject 9 'kilos' from Valencia for Bruno Soriano] (in Spanish). Deporte Valenciano. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Bruno Soriano, hasta 2020" [Bruno Soriano, until 2020]. Super Deporte (in Spanish). 29 August 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  11. ^ "La Liga 2013/14 se cierra con Cristiano Ronaldo como máximo artillero" [Curtain call to La Liga 2013/14 with Cristiano Ronaldo as top gunner]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 18 May 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Villarreal 1–0 Valencia". BBC Sport. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  13. ^ Chova, Edu (3 January 2016). "Bruno, principio y fin en el Villarreal" [Bruno, beginning and end in Villarreal]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Bruno, sin fecha de regreso" [Bruno, no return date] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  15. ^ Pérez, Javier (2 January 2019). "La orfandad del Villarreal sin Bruno y Rodri" [Villarreal lacking without Bruno and Rodri]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  16. ^ "El coronavirus frena la recuperación de Bruno Soriano" [Coronavirus halts Bruno Soriano's recovery]. Sport (in Spanish). 5 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  17. ^ Millar, Colin (18 June 2020). "Villarreal captain Bruno Soriano returns after three-year injury layoff". Football España. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Sevilla fight back to draw at Villarreal and move into third spot". Reuters. 22 June 2020. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Villarreal to part ways with club favourites Cazorla and Bruno". The Hindu. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Bruno: "Esto es lo máximo"" [Bruno: "It does not get any better than this"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 5 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  21. ^ "Crónica del México-España, 1–1" [Mexico-Spain match report, 1–1] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 12 August 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  22. ^ "Euro 2016: Diego Costa, Juan Mata & Fernando Torres not in Spain squad". BBC Sport. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  23. ^ Martín, Luis (31 May 2016). "Isco y Saúl fuera de la lista de Del Bosque para la Eurocopa 2016" [Isco and Saúl out of Del Bosque's list for 2016 European Championship]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  24. ^ "Spain cruise past Turkey to advance to knockout stage". ESPN FC. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  25. ^ "Bruno". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  26. ^ "Bruno Soriano". European Football. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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