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Bruno Aguiar
	Bruno Aguiar
Personal information
Full name	Bruno João Morais Aguiar
Date of birth	24 February 1981 (age 28)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Omonia Nicosia
Number	10
Youth career
1990–2001	Benfica
Senior career1
National team
	1 Senior club appearances and goals; counted for the domestic league only and; correct as of 15:08, 18 June 2009 (UTC).; * Appearances (Goals)

Bruno João Morais Aguiar (born 24 February 1981 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays for Omonia Nicosia. Aguiar has previously played for Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Gil Vicente, and Alverca in Portugal, FBK Kaunas in Lithuania, and Hearts in Scotland. He is a former Portugal Under-21 international.

[edit] Career

[edit] Benfica

Aguiar was on the books of Sport Lisboa e Benfica from the age of nine. In 2001–02, he was loaned out to Gil Vicente but made only three substitute appearances. He spent the 2002–03 season on loan at Alverca, helping them earn promotion from the Liga de Honra, leading to his loan being extended for the following season. However, the club's stay in the top flight only lasted one season and following their relegation, he returned to Benfica. Under Giovanni Trapattoni, he made his debut for the Lisbon club in a UEFA Champion's League qualifier against Anderlecht and went on to make 18 league appearances as Benfica won the Portuguese Liga for the first time since 1994. However, the following season, he fell out of favour under new manager Ronald Koeman and was released from his contract.

[edit] Hearts

In January 2006, Aguiar signed for FBK Kaunas, who then immediately loaned him to Hearts^[1], both clubs being owned by Vladimir Romanov. He made his debut for Hearts in a 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen in February 2006 and made a further 11 appearances before the end of the season, helping the side to finish in second place in the Scottish Premier League and victory in the Scottish Cup^[2].

The 2006–07 season did not start so well for Aguiar, as he was sent off in the first leg of Hearts' UEFA Champions League third round qualifying match against AEK Athens. He was dismissed in the 66th minute of the game after receiving a second yellow card for throwing the ball away, at a stage when Hearts were leading 1-0. AEK Athens utilised their subsequent one man advantage to win 2-1.^[3]

A lengthy eighteen month injury layoff soon followed for Aguiar and he made his return to first team action in October 2008 in the Edinburgh Derby where he scored a free-kick to earn Hearts a draw. On 9 December 2008, he was awarded the Clydesdale Bank Premier League Player of the Month award for November 2008.^[4] Aguiar ended the 2008–09 season as Hearts' top goal scorer with seven goals. On 1 June 2009, Hearts confirmed his departure following the expiration of his contract, leaving him free to sign with another club. He stated that he had enjoyed his time at the Tynecastle club, with the Scottish Cup victory and second place finish in the SPL in 2006 being personal highlights, as well as wishing them the best for the future.^[5]

[edit] Omonia Nicosia

Aguiar signed for Omonia Nicosia in June 2009, following his contract expiring at Hearts.^[6]

[edit] International career

Aguiar was a member of the Portugal under-21 team squad that finished third at the UEFA U-21 Championship in 2004 and qualified for the Athens Olympics, along with several future full internationals, such as Raul Meireles, Bruno Alves, José Bosingwa, Hugo Viana, Hugo Almeida, and Danny. However, he was not included in the squad for Athens and is yet to play a full international match.