Bruno Zebie (born August 14, 1995) is a former professional soccer player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in France, Zebie represented Canada at youth level.

Early life

Zebie was born in

Cormeilles-en-Parisis Cormeilles-en-Parisis (, literally ''Cormeilles in Parisis'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in Northern France. Inhabitants are called ''Cormeillais(e)''. Neighbouring communes * Argenteuil * La Frette-sur-Seine ...

, France, to Ivorian parents. He acquired

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

on 29 July 1999, through the collective effect of his parents'

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

. He moved to

Lachine, Quebec Lachine () is a borough (''arrondissement'') within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was an autonomous city until the municipal mergers in 2002. History Lachine, apparently from the French term ' ...

at age six, later moving to

Brossard, Quebec Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil a ...

. His family then moved to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

when he was 13. He began playing youth soccer with Edmonton Juventus before joining the

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to ...

Academy in 2012. In 2016, he joined the Edmonton Green and Gold youth academy.

University career

In 2016, he began attending the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Ruth ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. In his first season, he was named a

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

Second Team All-Star, winning the

U Sports Men's Soccer Championship The U Sports men's soccer championship is a Canadian university soccer tournament which involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The championship features eight teams in single-elimination matches to determi ...

with the team. In 2017, he was named a

First Team All-Star.

Club career

Zebie joined

's senior side in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: * North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league * North American Soccer League (2011–2017), a former Division II league {{disambig ...

on July 3, 2015 on a week-to-week contract. He made his first appearance on July 13 against the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

, as a substitution for Michael Nonni. After the NASL folded, Zebie played with the Calgary Foothills for the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

seasons. The club would end up champions in 2018, capturing the PDL Championship in a 2-1 victory over Reading United in the final. Zebie returned to

on December 13, 2018, ahead of the inaugural season of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

. In November 2019, Edmonton announced Zebie would not be returning to the club for the 2020 season. On February 5, 2020, Zebie signed with Alberta rival

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

, becoming the first player to play for both

Al Classico AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

rival clubs, reuniting with his former Calgary Foothills coach

Tommy Wheeldon Jr. Thomas Wheeldon Jr. (born 3 May 1979) is an English former professional footballer and current head coach of Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. Playing career Wheeldon began his playing career in England with Swindon Town before movi ...

He appeared in all ten of Cavalry's matches that year. On January 26, 2021, the club announced it had declined Zebie's contract option for 2021 (due to league rules of having 4 international imports), making him a free agent. Following the season, he returned to his hometown of Edmonton to coach.

International career

Zebie has been called up to camps for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

at the under-18 and under-20 level. In 2013, he took part in the

L'Alcúdia International Football Tournament The Torneo Internacional de Fútbol Sub-20 de L'Alcúdia (''L'Alcúdia International Under-20 Football Tournament''), better known as COTIF, is an annual international invitational football competition for youth teams, open to both clubs and natio ...

as an under-18 Canada team finished fourth in the annual under-20 tournament.

Personal life

Zebie's elder brother

Allan Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (A ...

was also a professional soccer player.

Honours

University of Alberta Golden Bears *

: 2016 Calgary Foothills *

Individual *

Second Team All-Star: 2016 *

First Team All-Star: 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zebie, Bruno 1995 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Ivorian men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Edmonton French sportspeople of Ivorian descent Canadian people of Ivorian descent Black Canadian men's soccer players French emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada FC Edmonton players Alberta Golden Bears players Calgary Foothills FC players Cavalry FC players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players Canada men's youth international soccer players