No Champions League medal, but Bruno's following in hero's path
When new Swansea City manager Paulo Sousa was clinching the second of his Champions League winners' medals with Borussia Dortmund, his Liberty Stadium assistant Bruno Oliviera was facing up to every footballer's nightmare, a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Then, as Sousa turned out for Inter Milan at the San Siro Stadium two years later, Oliviera had to deal with worse news — he had suffered the same injury again and, at just 21, his playing career was over.
Oliviera, seven years Sousa's junior, was busy plotting his path into football management.
At 31, he would barely qualify as a senior player, yet his route to the position of Liberty Stadium No. 2 has been a decade in the making.
Oliviera studied for a degree in sports science, specialising in football coaching.
From there he spent a two-year internship at Lazio under Sven Goran Erikkson, studying the methods of an elite football club.
After that he continued his football education with shorter spells at Real Madrid, Manchester United, Parma and Fiorentina.
It was during a stint with Parma that Oliviera first met Sousa, a player there at the time. The Portugal playmaker retired soon after, having being plagued by injuries, and embarked on his own route into coaching.
And when he was handed his first management job at Queens Park Rangers last season, after spells coaching the Portugal youth side and as assistant to national boss Queiroz, Sousa bought Oliviera with him.
Oliviera was eventually sacked on April 6, shortly before Sousa followed him through the exit door, though that did little to discourage him when the chance to link up with his former idol arose again.
"It was an easy decision," said Oliviera. "Paulo was a legend in Portugal. When I was a little boy and started playing football, he was my hero.
"And he was a national hero because he was one of the first Portugal players to play abroad."
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