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Report now20-year-old Bruno Ogbus from Zurich is in the Europa League final with Freiburg. He talks to blue Sport about the upcoming highlight, his dream of playing in the World Cup and his €10 million price tag.
On August 17, 2024, the then 18-year-old Bruno Ogbus made his professional debut for Freiburg. In the DFB Cup match against Osnabrück (4:0), he was allowed to start and set up the opening goal after half an hour. He then made his first appearances in the Bundesliga. He convinced those in charge and his contract was extended early at the end of September.
But then came the brutal setback. Ogbus tears his Achilles tendon in training. In an interview with blue Sport, he recalls: "It was a very sad moment." Towards the end of training, "such a bang came out of nowhere", says the now 20-year-old. It was a "shock". The doctors quickly knew what had hit him.
When he learned that he would be out of action for at least nine months, it was not easy to digest. He asks himself: "Why me? What will happen now? How will I come back? These are all things that go through your head." Family, friends, teammates and the coaches all gave him strength, which he then put into rehab and recovery training.
After he regained his footing in the 2nd team, a loan to the 2nd Bundesliga became an issue. But then they had a lot of absentees in the Freiburg professional squad - "and so I got my chance". He knows how to make the most of it and gets more and more opportunities. "Then it turned out that I wouldn't be loaned out after all and could play my games here."
Born in Zurich to Nigerian parents, he started his career at SV Höngg and switched to GC very early on. He played in the Zurich club's youth academy from U9 to U18 before moving on to Freiburg U17 in January 2022.
Bruno Ogbus is in the fast lane at Fribourg.
Imago
This season, Ogbus is playing for the 2nd team in the Regionalliga Südwest in the first half of the season before really hitting the ground running with the professionals after the turn of the year. In the second half of the season, he made 18 appearances in the Bundesliga (14 starting eleven) and 5 appearances in the Europa League (3 starting eleven). He probably has less fond memories of the DFB Cup semi-final. He was substituted in the 113th minute with the score at 1:1, and six minutes later Deniz Undav fired Stuttgart into the final with a dream goal.
But now there is still a big highlight of the season to come: the Europa League final against Aston Villa next Wednesday (21:00 live on blue Sport). If someone had told him that two years ago, he might not have thought it was "so realistic", says the U21 international. "Now I'm even happier that it's happened and that we're in the final." Of course, he hopes that he will also get to play.
He has not yet buried another dream: to take part in the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. "Yes, that's a big dream," he admits when asked about it. "I just hope that I might get a chance." He has not yet had any contact with Murat Yakin, he told blue Sport last Friday. "Not yet, but hopefully soon."
It's actually crazy, as Ogbus is currently the second most expensive Swiss defender with a market value of 10 million euros. What does that do to him when he hears something like that? "I'm happy to see that. But yes, you see it briefly and then you don't pay much attention to it," says the 20-year-old modestly. Ogbus acknowledges the statement that a 10 million man has to be called up for the World Cup with a loud laugh. "I hope it turns out that way, then I'd be happy." But he would also be happy if he could lift the trophy on Wednesday.
