Brazil’s loss to the United States in the quarterfinals of the Paris 2024 Olympics marked the end of an era for the country’s men’s national team as longtime team captain Bruno Rezende announced his international retirement after the match.
The team’s captain since 2013, Bruno, 38, is one of the winningest players in international volleyball, having played in five Olympics and won three medals (gold in Rio 2016 and silver in Beijing 2008 and London 2012), as well as four World Championship medals and two World Cup titles. He first joined the squad in 2006 and quickly became one of its stars and a fan favorite, having captained Brazil to win gold at home in 2016.
“This is definitely not how I wanted it to end, but I go in peace knowing that I gave everything I had while I was here and made many sacrifices to continue at the highest level,” he said. “It's sad to end it like this, but we fought until the end and did all we could to win today. With all that I got to win and experience in almost 20 years with the national team, I definitely can't complain about anything.”
