Bruno Soriano · Biography

On 22 June 2020, at the Estadio de la Cerámica, Bruno Soriano Llido played an official match for Villarreal CF again, against Sevilla FC. His previous appearance before a knee injury dated back to May 2017. He came on only for the closing minutes, but he was the club captain and Villarreal had waited more than three years for him. Born in Artana, in the province of Castellón, on 12 June 1984, he was a defensive midfielder who spent his entire professional career at Villarreal, from the reserve side until his retirement in July 2020.

Youth football in Artana, Betxí and Vila-real

He started playing at his hometown club, Artana, in 1992. A year later he moved to Betxí, where he stayed until 1997, and that summer he joined Villarreal’s academy. In 2001 he returned to Artana for two seasons, an unusual step back for a youngster who would go on to play at the top level. In 2003 he came back to the Villarreal set-up through Villarreal C, and in 2004 he was promoted to Villarreal B. With the reserves, whom he went on to captain, he made 57 league appearances between 2004 and 2007, always as the holding player in front of the back line.

Debut and first-team breakthrough

His first match for the senior team came on 15 July 2006 in the Intertoto Cup, a 1-2 home defeat to NK Maribor. His La Liga debut followed on 1 October 2006 in Palma, a 2-1 away win over RCD Mallorca. From 2007 he was a permanent member of the first-team squad. He scored his first professional goal on 14 November 2007 in the Copa del Rey, in a 4-2 win at UD Las Palmas. His first top-flight goal took longer: it arrived on 29 October 2011 against Rayo Vallecano at El Madrigal, in his 129th La Liga game.

Relegation in 2012 and the way back

The 2011-12 season ended with Villarreal relegated to the Spanish second division. Bruno stayed at the club and was a key part of the side that, after Marcelino García Toral took charge, went almost unbeaten in the second half of the campaign and won promotion in 2013. Back in the top flight, he had his most prolific season in 2013-14 with six goals, three of them penalties. On 31 December 2015 he gave Villarreal a 1-0 win over Valencia CF with a free kick, and on the following matchday he scored both goals in a 2-1 win at Deportivo de La Coruña, the second an injury-time penalty.

Spain national team

Vicente del Bosque called him up for the first time on 5 August 2010, a few weeks after Spain had won the World Cup. He made his debut on 11 August 2010 in a friendly against Mexico in Mexico City, a 1-1 draw in which he played 61 minutes. In October 2010 he was called up again for Euro 2012 qualifying, and in November 2014 he replaced the injured Cesc Fàbregas in the squad for the games against Belarus and Germany. Del Bosque included him in the squad for Euro 2016 in France. There he played his first match at a major tournament on 17 June 2016, coming on for David Silva in the 64th minute of a 3-0 win over Turkey in Nice. He made two appearances at the tournament, where Spain went out in the round of 16. He finished his international career with 10 caps and no goals.

The knee injury

In May 2017 he played his last game before an injury that kept him out for almost three seasons. He had surgery in July 2017; after a setback he needed a second operation, and his recovery stretched across 2017-18, 2018-19 and most of 2019-20. Throughout that period he remained one of the squad’s captains. His return against Sevilla on 22 June 2020 came in the closing weeks of a league season that had resumed behind closed doors after the pandemic stoppage.

Retirement

On 18 July 2020 Villarreal announced that Bruno would end his career, on the same day that Santi Cazorla’s departure was confirmed. His whole professional career, which began with the reserves in 2004, was spent at the club whose academy he had joined in 1997, including 57 league games for Villarreal B between 2004 and 2007. He played his farewell match on matchday 38 of that La Liga season, at home to SD Eibar, on 19 July 2020.