SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that the club has hired Bruno Costa as the team’s head of scouting. Costa joins the Quakes with extensive scouting experience, spending almost two decades in the Brazilian top flight (Série A) and with the Brazilian Football Confederation.
During his time with the confederation, Costa helped scout and recruit some of the biggest names in modern soccer, including Neymar Jr. (Barcelona), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) and Willian (Chelsea) to the Brazilian Youth National Teams.
“Bruno is a fantastic addition to our organization, having worked in the competitive Série A and with the most successful national team in international soccer,” said Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli. “Our goal was to hire an experienced scout that knows the U.S. and the international talent markets. As we develop a comprehensive player scouting and development program across Quakes teams, Bruno will focus on prospects in the Bay Area as much as he will cover U.S. and select markets in Europe and Latin America. He brings a tremendous amount of experience in identifying talent to the Quakes, and we are fortunate to have him as part of our team.”
Costa joined the Brazilian Football Confederation, BFC, in 2001 as the team manager for the Brazilian Youth National Teams where he assisted in scouting efforts. During his time there, the Brazilian Youth National Teams won 14 trophies, including the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship (U-20) and the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, making Brazil the first and only nation to win both tournaments in the same year. The U-17s were also the runners up in the 2005 U-17 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, Costa served as the general manager for the 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifying squad.
Following his first stint with the BFC, Costa went to Fluminense Football Club of Série A in 2007 where he remained until 2011 as the general manager of the youth academy and assistant general manager for the first team. During his time with Fluminense, the club won more than 30 trophies, including the 2007 Brazilian Cup for the first time in club history and the 2010 Brazilian National Championship. Fluminense were also the runners up in the 2008 Copa Libertadores.
Costa then spent a year as the general manager of the youth academy and assistant general manager for the first team at Figueirense Football Club, also of Série A, helping the youth squads win six trophies before he returned to the BFC in 2012.
In his second stint with the BFC, Costa served as the head scout for the Brazilian Men’s Youth National Teams and as a scout for the Men’s National Team. During this time, he worked extensively in scouting and recruiting players for the 2016 Olympic squad that went on to win Brazil’s first gold medal in the sport.
In 2015, Costa decided to return to the United States, where he attended high school and played soccer at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and later played Division I soccer at Florida International University. Costa served as the assistant general manager and head of scouting for the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers from December 2015 until joining the Quakes. With Costa on staff in 2016, Fort Lauderdale progressed to the Round of 8 in the U.S. Open Cup for the first time in club history, the only non-MLS team to make it to the final rounds of the tournament.
