“I was watching the Vikings series on TV,” says the Brazilian midfielder, then of Lyon. “I was going home to play for the national team. There was wi-fi on the plane and I received repeated calls from my agent. “I was saying, ‘I can’t answer the phone!’ So he sent a message – “Newcastle United are interested. Would you like to hear their proposal? Bruno paused in his favorite historical drama and answered in the affirmative “Yes!”. It has been flying ever since. Bruno Guimaraes, who acquires Newcastle in January, opened his brilliant start in Tyneside A start with a roar: Guimaraes gave an exclusive interview to Sportsmail’s Craig Hope Turning his upper torso and extending his right leg behind him, Bruno tries to recreate his first goal for Newcastle. He does it from the comfort of a couch in the training area, but, for anyone else, it looks anything but comfortable. Although he has only eight weeks of English lessons and a Portuguese translator sitting with us, he feels very proud to be using his new language skills to relive that moment, an air-to-back volley in a 2-1 win over Southampton. “When I saw the ball, I thought, ‘Only then can I touch it with my foot. So I will try. ” I could not see the goal. I only listened to the fans, “AARRGHH”. Then, I realize the goal! “ His best ever? ‘I think so.’ For audacity, perhaps. But no, the’s 42 million pound record club agrees, for the ultimate joy. That was two weeks ago, when his diving header in the 95th minute in front of the Gallowgate End grabbed a 2-1 win over Leicester. It was the second afternoon and the first time that his pregnant girlfriend, Ana, had ever seen him score. You start to wonder if these English lessons also include a script. I tell him that, at 90 minutes, I noticed a colleague in the press box, “Bruno has to leave, it’s over.” There is a childlike charm in the 24-year-old’s loud crime, because he knows that his last laugh belonged to him. ‘I was so tired. It was really hot. I was sparing my last fumes, my last gas. I expected it. I thought, “I only need one ball to score or assist.” So when Joe Willock took off from the line, I gave my last energy to get to this ball. “ Bruno was 30 yards behind Willock at the start of the break. To viewers, it looked like he had appeared on another channel when, reaching the finish line, he threw his tired body into Willock’s crossbar. He understands English when I say, “I thought you would end up a hero or you would collapse into a pile.” ‘Me too!’ responds radiantly. In fact, the glow does not leave his eye. “When I scored, it was a special moment. I will remember this for the rest of my life. “ He returns to Portuguese – to the translator’s relief, worried about his future employment prospects – as he adds: “I also had fun with my girlfriend, because I had never scored when she was on the pitch. That was the first time – and now I have three! “ The third of them – his fourth goal in seven starts for Newcastle – came in the 3-0 win over Norwich last weekend, an impudent queen against Tim Crowle. So excited is his family, including dad, Dick and mom, Marcia, that he embraces even a trip to deeper Norfolk. It was there that Bruno wore a black and white “magic hat” during the festivities in front of Tun’s army. He has heard their tribute, “Bruno is magical, he wears a magic hat, he could have signed for Arsenal, but he said ‘no this’. “He wants to play for Eddie in the famous black and white, and when we win the Premier League we will sing this song all night.” The average κι 40m Guimaraes is already a cult hero among Toon supporters Some have already created a banner for him in green and yellow, in the colors of the Brazilian flag He prefers not to sing it now, but admits that he promotes his English by saying it at home. “I like it, I like it,” he says, a hint of Geordie that is already detectable. It seems that Bruno likes everything in his new life in Tyneside. There have been dog walks in Town Moor – “It’s cold, but they’ll get used to it” – and, on the first day, he sought comfort at home at the Rio Steakhouse in Jesmond. He assumed it would be a Brazilian hangout. “I could not believe it – in two minutes I had taken 10 pictures,” he says, taking a selfie. ‘Was amazing. I thought, “This is so special, so different.” I love this passion, this connection with the fans “. Eddie Howe calls him an “incredible guy” and his teammates are obsessed with his infectious personality. It helps, of course, that he can play – his statistics show him to be the best midfielder in the country in his current form. There is self-confidence but not arrogance, even if the tattoos on his left hand read: “God created me to win” and “What is possible strengthens me”. I’m not afraid’. He certainly does not betray nerves during this, his first newspaper interview since arriving in England. The trademark of goal celebration with hands behind ears is now common in Newcastle playgrounds When it comes to taking some pictures, he is bare-chested as he screams under the lens, mimicking the party with his hands behind his ears which is now commonplace in Newcastle playgrounds. “I did not do it again. “Only now, and I do not know why!” He says. What Bruno knows is that he would not be here if he did not believe in the work sold to him by Howe and the owners of the Saudi-backed club. At noon on Saturday, Newcastle entertained Liverpool, who are chasing four times, including compatriots Allison, Fambino and Roberto Firmino. So he wants to ruin his friends’ title chances? ‘I hope so!’ declares. Given the form of the Premier League’s last 14 games showing only Liverpool and Manchester City ahead of Newcastle, such hopes are far from desperate. In his revelation, Bruno revealed that he went to Newcastle to win the Champions League. I told him he could have made a short cut and tried to sign for a club like Liverpool. Definitely looks pretty good. “I think I can do that in Newcastle,” he said. “Otherwise, I would not be here. We have to think big. I believe in myself. I believe in the manager. When you think about the run we did… I’m not afraid. I’m in a huge club and I want to be a legend here. I want to create my own story. I want to make history. “ Bruno’s first recollection of playing football in the Sao Cristovao neighborhood north of Rio de Janeiro is not good. He had cried to be allowed to swim swimming with football, but, in his first session at the age of six, he was still crying. “They hit me with a ball in the face,” he says, and at least he laughs now. ‘I cried a lot. “My mother came on the field and took me home!” He was pushed into sports only for medical reasons. At the age of one and then again at three, he contracted pneumonia. “From what my parents tell me, it was a very serious and difficult time for them. At the age of four I was prescribed to do sports to improve the function of my lungs and heart. “They put me in swimming for the first time, but I did not like it. I said, “Mom, please, I do not want to swim. I want to play football”. So, they put me in a football academy and then my love started “. On his eighth birthday, Bruno returned to the hospital. This time, however, his parents were less likeable. “I was on the beach with my friends. We started playing between the rocks. I fell and hit my head. I had to go to the hospital and do four stitches. I got a very big message from my dad, “Why did you do that?”. I said, “Dad, we just played and I’m the birthday boy!” Later I ask Bruno if he has ever had a near-fatal experience because, well, it seems like the kind of guy who would not just say no. Although an only child, Guimaraes says he found a “brother” in his compatriot Joelinton ‘Yes!’ he replies. “Given the story from my father when I hit my head on these rocks!” Apart from reprimanding him, his upbringing has nothing but affection and, every year, he makes donations to help people in his hometown. “I had a wonderful childhood. I would go fishing with my friends, I would fly kites, I would play football on the street. I would do it from the beginning. “I really hope my son or daughter has the same happiness.” He is 15 years old and after a series of rejections by clubs in Rio, he joined the Minnows Audax academy based in Sao Paulo, where he earned 100 pounds a month. “Enough to pay for my cell phone bill,” said Bruno, who spent the evenings talking to his parents. They drove 250 miles overnight in Dick’s taxi – Marcia worked at a motorcycle dealership – to watch their only child play on Sunday morning. It was his father who insisted that Bruno not give up football, preferring the gym, his first love. Watch his goal against Norwich – controlling the ball with his nails – and Bruno attributes this technique to indoor football. He jumps to his feet to protest. By the age of 19, these skills had caught the attention of the top class Athletico Paranaense. And here came a reversal of fate, when his club assigned him the number 39 of the team. “My dad’s taxi number!” He says. It is the jersey he wore then in Lyon and now in Newcastle. Although the frequency with which its origin is reported has become a family joke. The 24-year-old says he wants to be in Newcastle “for a very, very long time” – and fans will hope so “Every time the commentator talks about my dad’s taxi, we laugh. But it is also very important to us – we love that number. “ The love for his parents, who have moved to Newcastle, is also very obvious. “They are proud of …
