Bulgaria Naturalizes One More Promising Brazilian Footballer

Guilherme de Souza, aka Choco (right), has been playing for Ludogorets Razgrad since January 2011 when the team was still in the second Bulgarian league, Group "B". Photo by BGNES

Guilherme de Souza, aka Choco, the defender of the Bulgarian football team Ludogorets Razgrad, has been granted Bulgarian citizenship.

Choco, born 18 January 1990 in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, went through the youth academy of Brazilian football club Santos.

He has been the favorite player of the fans of Ludogorets Razgrad, a team that made it to Group "A" of the Bulgarian football championship for the first time this season.

The 21-year-old defender received Bulgarian citizenship with a decree of Vice-President Angel Marin on Wednesday.

Commentators have remarked that if he keeps up the good work, Choco may soon be invited to the Bulgarian national football team, which occasionally suffers a shortage of defenders.

Choco could be the third black and Brazilian player to play for Bulgaria, after Lucio Wagner, a left back, a native of Rio de Janeiro, played for Bulgaria in 2006-2009. Wagner played for Levski Sofia for seven seasons.

In May 2011, another Brazilian, playmaker Marcos Marquinhos, got a Bulgarian passport and joined the national squad.

Marcos Ant?nio Malachias J?nior, a.k.a. Marquinhos (born 20 August 1982) has been playing in Bulgaria since 2006. After starting his career in Brazil's Guacuano, he was signed by Bulgaria's Belasitsa Petrich. He was bought by CSKA Sofia in 2008, and has been playing there since.

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