Breno Vinicius Rodrigues Borges (; born 13 October 1989), known as Breno, is a Brazilian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He was part of the Brazilian squad that won a bronze medal at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

Personal life

Breno was born on 13 October 1989 in Cruzeiro. He married Renata and the couple has a son while his wife has also two children from a previous relationship.

Club career

São Paulo

Breno was a member of the Brazil under-23 national team. After making their first team, he signed a new four-year contract with

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in July 2007.

Bayern Munich

In December 2007, Breno officially signed for German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

with a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

12 million release clause, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal. Along with Bayern,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

were also interested in signing him. Breno, however, refused to sign with Real Madrid after the club wanted a bone analysis to prove his young age. Breno was recommended to Bayern Munich by one of their former players,

Giovane Élber Élber de Souza (born 23 July 1972), commonly known as Giovane Élber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer in various clubs, Élber's career was mostly spent in Germany, where he repre ...

, who was later on recruited as a scout in his native country, Brazil. Breno played his first competitive match for Bayern against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

in a

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, UEFA's former second-tier club association football, football tournament. The 2008 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, E ...

knock-out stage match, an eventual 2–1 defeat.

1. FC Nürnberg

After two years and 22 matches played with Bayern Munich, Breno was loaned out to 1. FC Nürnberg on 31 December 2009. On 7 March 2010, he sustained a cruciate ligament injury, ending his season prematurely and also keeping him out of action for most of autumn during Bayern Munich's 2010–11 season.

Return to Bayern Munich

On 14 November 2010, Breno returned to first team action, playing in the 3–0 home win against his former club 1. FC Nürnberg. Borges has generally served as an understudy to German international

Holger Badstuber Holger Felix Badstuber (born 13 March 1989) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or left-back. Badstuber made his debut in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich in the 2009–10 season, at the age of 19. He played ...

. On 5 March 2011, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 1–3 away loss to

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

Return to São Paulo

Waiting for a German justice decision, on 20 December 2012 São Paulo registered Breno as a player for its 2013 season. His move to São Paulo was officially confirmed by the Brazilian club on 19 December 2014.

Arrest

On 24 September 2011, Breno was arrested after the

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

public prosecutor had issued an arrest warrant for suspicion of suppression of evidence and the fact that he may be a possible flight risk. The reasoning for the arrest was "suspicion of aggravated

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

" in regards to the almost total destruction of his villa in a suspicious fire. The damage to his villa was estimated to be €1.5 million. Bayern Munich made no comment on the arrest. Club officials had previously advised him to seek help from a psychiatrist in regards to injury frustrations, which some feared were career ending. On 6 October 2011, he was released on bail. On 11 April 2012, German prosecutors charged Breno over arson in connection with the fire that burned down his rented villa. On 4 July 2012, Breno was handed a jail sentence of three years and nine months. After the sentences, the German court announced that Breno will be deported to Brazil upon completion of his prison sentence. Breno's sentences were spoken against by sportspersons like

and

Uli Hoeneß Ulrich "Uli" Hoeneß (; born 5 January 1952) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a forward. He played for the West Germany at one World Cup and two European Championships, winning one tournament of each ...

, though his comment was criticised by 1. FC Nürnberg director of football Martin Bader and Eintracht Frankfurt executive chairman Heribert Bruchhagen. In January 2013, Breno's proposal for his revised sentence was rejected by the German

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice ( , ) is the highest court of Private law, civil and Criminal law, criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, le ...

due to his situation not constituting a formal error of law, after his lawyer says he was under the influence of potentially dangerous medication which could have caused the events which led to his imprisonment. In May 2013, Breno was used by Bayern Munich club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as an example of neglect from

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation (, CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as , and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, sepa ...

. For Rummenigge, while the Brazilians struggled for liberation of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

and

Luiz Gustavo Luiz Gustavo Dias (born 23 July 1987) is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club São Paulo FC, São Paulo. He began his career as a left-back, but has played mostly as a defen ...

to play in the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

; the defender, on the other hand, was abandoned. On 19 August 2013, Breno was released from

Stadelheim Prison Stadelheim Prison (), in Munich's Giesing district, is one of the largest Prisons in Germany, prisons in Germany. Founded in 1894, it was the site of many executions, particularly by guillotine during the Nazi period. Notable inmates *Ludwig Thom ...

on day release and was employed by former club Bayern Munich as a trainer for its under-23 squad.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;São Paulo * Brazilian League:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

;Bayern Munich *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2007–08 *

: 2007–08

International

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

: Bronze medal winner

Individual

* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

* Bola de Prata: 2007

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breno 1989 births Living people People convicted of arson People deported from Germany Brazilian arsonists Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian prisoners and detainees Expatriate men's footballers in Germany São Paulo FC players CR Vasco da Gama players Men's association football defenders FC Bayern Munich footballers 1. FC Nürnberg players Footballers from São Paulo (state) Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Bundesliga players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Brazil Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic medalists in football Foreign nationals imprisoned in Germany Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany People from Cruzeiro, São Paulo Brazilian sportspeople convicted of crimes 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen