It’s clear that Bruninho was the best player on the pitch by far way before he scored his first of two goals to give Maccabi Haifa the 2-1 win over Hapoel Ramat Gan ahead of the Israeli Classico against Maccabi Tel Aviv at Bloomfield Stadium. The Brazilian attacking midfielder was all over the Sammy Ofer Stadium pitch from the opening whistle as he did as he pleased partly because Head Coach Barak Bachar allowed him to do so and partly because he was head and shoulders above everyone else.

Bruninho and Kenji Gorre looked as if they had played together for a number of years and not just a couple of months which allowed the former to move around like a leopard waiting for his prey which allowed him to put home a brace.

What’s actually amazing is that the 26-year old has now played for ten(!) different teams with Maccabi Haifa being the tenth for #10.

If you look at the statistics, Bruninho is a player that never scored more than ten goals in a season which he did once back in 2023 with Gurani over the course of 45 matches across all competitions. Over the course of the last two seasons he scored 16 goals in 50 appearances for Karpaty Lviv from Ukraine.

In theory, he’s now on pace for 72 goals in 36 games which we all know is not even he slight realistic, but the fact of the matter is, Bruninho showed everyone exactly what he can do with a blistering shot from outside of the box and inside of it as well. It’s clear that he’s put the league on notice that he’s a threat to do some major damage for the greens this season.

In fact, Bruninho could have walked away with a hat-trick had Eitan Azulay not been the selected penalty taker (and subsequently missed) late in the second half or one of his scorchers went off of the bar as time wound down.

The compliments came in fast and furious during the game and right after it as fans and soccer aficionados alike couldn’t find enough superlatives to describe the 1.75 meter stud. There was clearly a reason why Sports Director Lior Refaelov went after Bruninho during the summer transfer window and wanted him to be the star signing.

One match doesn’t make a season that’s a well known fact, both for a team and a player and while Maccabi Haifa have plenty to work on, there is some hope that with Bruninho in tow they will be able to pick up some wins. Perhaps they will threaten for a European playoff spot which would be an accomplishment for a team that is undergoing a rebuild and clearly needs some more pieces in order to really be a player for the championship.

Head Coach Barak Bachar spoke about how the squad had players who were not in their usual positions but was doing the best that he could in order to make sure that the Greens picked up three points ahead of the Classico.

“Bruninho proved that he has quality, he was almost at a hat-trick,” Bachar said. “He adds a lot to us. I liked his pressing and aggression more today; that’s the foundation. The whole team was more aggressive in the first half. There were quite a few moments when we got tired and invited their attacks, but I’m happy that we won.’”

The bench boss continued with praise for his attacker after what was a subpar performance in the final Toto Cup game, “His work today, including winning the ball back, was excellent. He put his head down and worked hard, unlike in the previous game against Hapoel Jerusalem. I sat down with him and showed him what I meant. It’s great that he has the quality, but he needs to put in the work as well. I’m happy that he did that today and he needs to keep doing it. I always tell attacking players that there are those who lead the charge and those who do the work, and that also needs to be reflected in their attacking play.”

Bachar didn’t mince words and made sure to give Bruninho the kudos he deserved while also identifying a point in his game that was less than satisfactory. Ultimately, Bachar knows that he’s got to get the rest of the team involved and players like Azulay, Gorre and others will find the back of the goal in due time. It’s only been one game.

But he’s also aware as to what franchise he is a part of, “This place is a madhouse. It’s the only place in the world where people make judgments based on the Toto Cup. That doesn’t mean we’re good or bad. There’s a lot of work to do and there are new players, but I’m starting to feel that we’re beginning to understand better what needs to be done.“

Now it’s onto Maccabi Tel Aviv, which despite their struggles, will be an entirely different story than Hapoel Ramat Gan and Bachar along with his Haifa said knows it. But game one is in the books and the Greens got the maximum points. Was there more to ask for at this point in time?