A journeyman from Brazil

From Brazil to Japan to Singapore to Malaysia -- Bruno Suzuki has made a long journey in search of a football identity, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots and wants to return to the country of his father once he is done with this journey.

Currently a striker of Terengganu FC’s second team, on loan to the first team which is participating in the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, this Brazilian-born Japanese caught the attention of everyone with four goals in their opening game against I-League champions Chennai City FC.

However, the 30-year-old striker is hardly content as his place in the club’s first team, the one that plies in top-tier rather than the second tier where he plays is far from assured.

“I scored hattricks before, but four goals is a first for me. However, I’m not sure If I will be picked for Terengganu-I even if I play well here,” the striker said during an interview at the team hotel in Chattogram yesterday.

Suzuki’s family made the journey from the troublesome Belem near the Amazon to his mother’s home in New Osaka when he was six years old. The ginger-haired striker, who only started playing football at seven and made his senior debut at 19, feels the early childhood memories from Brazil where every kid plays football and football stars are idolised, made a lasting impression on him.

“Even though I didn’t play football at that age, I used to watch children play football on the streets. Ronaldo, The Phenomenon, was one I idolised. After him, I like Neymar a lot and I support whichever club he plays for,” said Suzuki, who started his professional career with Japanese second-tier outfit Albirex Niigata in 2009 but was soon loaned out to Singapore where he played six years.

Then he moved to Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia from where he finally landed in Terengganu last year where he is striving to make an impression and extend his contract, which is supposed to end this year.

Suzuki feels if his family did not move from Brazil, he might have had a better future in football, but he has taken this as his fate. He still misses the life in Brazil and the fun associated with it.

“I think I would be a better footballer if I had grown up in Brazil. My life would have been totally different,” Suzuki said. “Even though I left Brazil when I was a kid, I still remember the life there. Brazil is more party, more fun. Japan is only work, work and work. One day I want to go back to Brazil.”