Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes celebrates(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)

Bruno Guimaraes' stirring pre-match 'legends' message to Newcastle United team-mates

by · ChronicleLive

It's the stuff to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but for Newcastle United and captain Bruno Guimaraes, it was a deadly serious message.

The Brazilian has been at the club for three years now, maybe not long in the context of the 70-year wait for a domestic trophy, but long enough to know what winning the Carabao Cup would - and now does - mean to the black-and-white faithful.

In fact one of the reasons he has been taken so competely to hearts of the Geordie public - aside from his ability on the pitch - is because Bruno has embraced life in Newcastle since arriving from Lyon in 2022. He has lived and breathed Newcastle United - just as the fans do - earning the captaincy in the summer of 2024.

There are plenty of experienced heads in the Unted dressing room these days, with leaders such as Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Callum Wilson ready to set right tone. But as skipper, it fell to Bruno to send a stirring message to the squad as the prepared to take to the Wembley pitch on Sunday afternoon.

“Man, before the game, my thing is, I said in the locker room, I told them ‘Today we’re going on to the field as players and we’re going to leave there as legends.’," he told Brazilian journalist Fred Caldeira. “And that’s what happened, right? When people tell the story of Newcastle after 70 years, they’re going to tell you about the trophies, the title we won today. The first step is always the hardest.”

That first step is now officially a part of history. The next could be even bigger.

NUFC win Carabao Cup

We thought you'd like a handy highlights guide to our best coverage of Newcastle United's Carabao Cup win: