Tuesday, October 20, 1998
Martin’s mousecapades
FEATURE: Bruno discusses soccer, school
and his mouse
By Moin Salahuddin
Daily Bruin Contributor
You’re a student in Denmark and have an intense desire to
perfect your English. You decide to go to the United States and
pursue your studies in an American high school.
You plan to return home after that first year but decide that
you’ll stay in California. The weather is great, your high school
soccer team goes undefeated and your girlfriend gives you a rubber
mouse.
A rubber mouse?!
"My girlfriend gave me a little mouse that I bring to every
game, " junior forward Martin Bruno said. "Just before kickoff, I
give my girlfriend a kiss and that usually gets me going and
scoring during the game. But the mouse definitely gets me going
too. I keep it in my pocket. It’s not a live mouse, it’s a rubber
one. I keep it in my warm-up pocket for every game. "
A rubber mouse?
Well, it seems it has worked so far this season. The defending
national champion Bruins are currently ranked second in the nation.
They have demolished their competition, shutting down all but two
of their opponents while averaging over three goals a game. This
success can be attributed to many people, one of whom is Martin
Bruno.
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Bruno has been surrounded by soccer
his entire life. He’s played in numerous tournaments, including the
Denmark National Championships, the pinnacle of club soccer for
Danish youth.
"It’s sort of the same as club teams in the U.S., " Bruno said.
"You play in your league, you win your league, go to State Cup,
then regionals and finally nationals. We won our league, and then
went on all the way to the nationals. We were one of the top 16
teams in the nation by playing in that tournament. We ended up
losing in the finals. It was a great experience and I went there a
couple of years. "
Going to the finals of a national tournament could be seen as a
memorable experience. But for Bruno, it didn’t even compare to last
year.
"That was when we won the NCAA championship last year, " Bruno
said. "For sure. Doesn’t get better than that yet. "
Maybe a second championship would a feel a little better.
"I think our chance to repeat is just as good as last year if
not better, " Bruno said. "We have Sasha Victorine and Peter
Vagenas back, both (of whom) didn’t play in the finals last year.
We got a couple of good recruits. Of course, I’m starting up front
next to Seth. I think we have a good shot at it. It might take a
little while but when we get to the tournament, anything can
happen. I think we can definitely do it again. We’ve done it
before. "
Bruno’s roots in soccer are much older than those championships
that he’s played in.
When Bruno was four years old, his older brother took him out to
play soccer the first time. The younger Bruno enjoyed soccer from
the beginning, and grew to love the sport.
"I didn’t move to the U.S. until I was 16. I didn’t come over
here to play soccer, but (rather) to go to school for a year. It
ended up being pretty fun playing soccer at (my) high school. We
were really good, and the coaches convinced me to stay for another
year or two. I did. And I ended up coming to UCLA. "
So how exactly did Martin Bruno get to the United States from
Denmark?
"When you want to be an exchange student, you put down where you
want to go, but they can’t guarantee that you’ll go there, " Bruno
said. "I just put down California because I heard it was sunny over
there, had nice beaches and you could go skiing. I got lucky. I
ended up here. I think there were 150 students and only three or
four ended up in California. "
Bruno planned to return to Denmark after his first year here.
His goals were to better his English, experience life in America
and then return to his homeland.
However, that plan didn’t come to fruition. Bruno stayed in the
United States and started to play high school soccer.
"High school soccer was much different in the U.S. versus
Denmark, " Bruno said.
"In Denmark, you don’t play in high school and then go to a club
team after. Here you practice every day, and after school you
practice and play two or three times a week. In Denmark, you
practice two or three times a week and then play a game either on
Saturday or Sunday. So that was the biggest difference. "
Bruno played at Terra Linda High School where he was a
three-time all-league selection, and league MVP his senior year.
During his final season, Bruno played the forward position and led
his team in scoring with an astounding 35 goals and 17 assists.
"That year we won the state tournament and were No. 2 in the
nation, " Bruno said. "We were 26-0 overall. It was a good season
and we had a great team. "
Once his successful high school career ended, Bruno could have
gone back to Denmark. However, he wanted to stay in California to
go to school.
"I wasn’t being heavily recruited, " Bruno said.
"Just a couple of schools up north like Santa Clara, Fresno
State, and then UCLA. I didn’t make a big name for myself. I didn’t
send out any letters. I just played. "
During Bruno’s senior year, his father moved from Denmark to San
Francisco. With his father close to his side, Bruno realized that
college in the United States would be the ultimate goal. If he
could receive a scholarship from any institution in California, he
would gladly accept it.
"I chose UCLA just because they were (a better) team then the
other schools. A lot of my friends were talking about going to
UCLA, how they had a great school and the best team. I said ‘all
right’, but I didn’t know much about it. I just knew they had a
good ranking and were a great academic school. "
So Bruno made the transition from high school to college in the
U.S. – but it didn’t come easy.
"My freshman year was tough, " Bruno said. "I came in not too
(physically) fit. I actually started the first five games of the
season but then ended up on the bench. I didn’t score enough goals
and came in as a sub after that. I wasn’t very happy about it.
"
"My second year was much better. I came in more fit and got
lucky by scoring some goals early. It calmed me down a little bit
and gave me some confidence. "
"It went fine after that. "
That was an understatement.
The Bruins went on to capture the national championship. In the
NCAA quarterfinals against Clemson, Bruno scored the game-winner
from 24 yards out.
Bruno also had a goal and an assist in UCLA’s first round match
against Santa Clara.
"I felt we went into the tournament with a good chance to win
but I don’t think we were the favorites, " Bruno said.
"It was tough playing teams like Clemson. And when you play
Indiana, a team that’s 22-0, we were the underdogs. "
Anything can happen in soccer. Earlier that season, Bruno came
off the bench against UC Santa Barbara and went on to score an
amazing four goals, which tied the Bruins’ single-game record.
Later that week, Bruno was named to Soccer America’s Team of the
Week. Bruno ended up ranked second on the team in scoring and
fourth overall in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
However, all this success did not magically appear. Bruno can
attribute his play to several people in his life, including the
head coach Sigi Schmid.
"I used to be the guy who would just sit up there and score
goals, like Seth does now. (Schmid) changed me into the guy who’s
working, " Bruno said.
"He pushes us very hard in practice every day. He’s very
difficult but I like him very much as a coach. He’s a good person,
" he added.
Senior striker Seth George is also one of the more influential
people in Bruno’s soccer career.
"I remember my freshman year when Seth and I would come off the
bench, " Bruno said. "We were the two starting forwards in the
first five games. Then we went to the bench and we would come into
every game at the half. It would be 1-1 or 1-0 them and we would
always come out with a win. "
"Right now, I’m working my ass off for Seth. Making sure that we
stay on the field as long as we can and that we score goals. And we
win. My job right now is just to work hard both for both me and
Seth and create goals. "
Bruno has been successful in soccer and plans to attempt a
professional career.
"I’m a Danish citizen, " Bruno said. "I want to make the Danish
national team but they’re very good. It would be really tough. I’m
working on getting my U.S. citizenship. I’ve been here for five
years now so hopefully if I can get it within the next four years.
I think I’ll have a chance to make the U.S. national team. If that
doesn’t happen, I hope to get a shot at the Danish national team in
a couple of years. You never know what’s going to happen but I
definitely want to play at the next level. "
Bruno respects and admires many of the greats in soccer,
including many of his countrymen.
"I look up to many of the Danish players, especially Michael and
Brian Laudrup, the two brothers on the national team. I also like
big players like Zinadine Zidane from France. I like Michael Owen,
because he is a young guy and I’m trying to be like him. Alan
Shearer and Diego Maradona are also two great ones that everyone
likes. "
So what does Bruno do besides soccer?
"I got my Sony Playstation, " Bruno said. "Right now, I love
playing GameDay 99 and FIFA 98, a world cup game. I like some of
the old school games like Tekken and Resident Evil 2. But mostly I
love sport games, especially soccer ones. "
So the next time your playing the 2002 version of the World Cup,
choose Denmark. They’ve got a great team and no one can beat the
talent of star Danish forward Martin Bruno … the next Zidane plus
a rubber mouse.Genevieve Liang/Daily Bruin
Junior forward Martin Bruno peeks over a soccer ball with his
rubber mouse. The mouse, a gift from his girlfriend, stays in
Bruno’s pocket during games.
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