Goalkeeper Bruno Cardoso Is Living American Dream With Strikers

For 18 years, Bruno Cardoso was on the books of Brazilian club Palmeiras. The native of São Paulo always had one thought in the back of his mind, though.

“It was a dream to come to the U.S. with my family and play,” Cardoso told NASL.com after signing with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the offseason. “I said, ‘Give me the tickets now and I’m boarding!’ ”

The experienced goalkeeper has played in some of South America’s biggest club tournaments, including Copa Libertadores, and can be a guiding force for many of his younger teammates and the Brazilian core at the club. The ’keeper, though, expects to learn as much as he can teach.

“I have to learn the league and how the game in the U.S. is played, so I think it will be a sharing of those experiences,” he said.

Cardoso also has an earlier connection with Strikers Coach and GM Caio Zanardi, who has rebuilt the roster for the 2016 season.

“Caio was my U-17 coach when I played,” Cardoso said.

Cardoso, 31, despite spending his entire career thus far in Brazil, speaks English as good as any native.

“I have spoken English since I was a child,” he said, “but when I was coming to the Strikers, I asked friends about terms goalkeepers use in the U.S.”

Still hoping to communicate better on the field as he prepares for his North American journey, there’s one part the ’keeper wouldn’t change for the world.

“The quality of life is incredible,” he said. “That’s the main reason I chose the Strikers, to raise my children to go to school [here] and the American way, and to not worry about the violence that occurs sometimes in São Paulo.”