Twins Hugo and Guille Bueno: “It was good for us to escape”

IN wolverhamptonin the center of England Hugo Good (Gondomar, 2002) is already under the orders of Julen Lopetegui. IN Dortmund, west of Germany, his twin brother will begin pre-season with Borussia’s first team on Thursday. “I had several options to go on loan, but my intention with this opportunity is to stay here. At the moment there is only one left-back and I want to fight to stay,” he admits. Guillein pursuit of the rush on the elite that Hugo won last season. He played 21 games in the Premier League and extended his contract until 2026, with an additional additional year. “I’m going to get more. Now my goal is to be an important player in the team. I made my debut and was a starter ten days in a row. When I was at my best, after the game against Fulham, when I was named man of the match, I tore my hamstring. It was difficult for me then, but I managed to start again”, recalls Hugo.

On the As Gaiandas field, in Gondomar, a few meters from where they started playing as pre-Benjamins, the Bueno twins trained during the summer holidays. Apart from sharing a bed, the two occupy the same position on the field, that of left back. “First, we do the exercises professionally. There is always something to eat. We try not to have too many of them, because when we give in, things end badly,” admits Hugo. “We always had a very competitive relationship. When we played together and did one-on-one exercises, we always turned against each other. It was a way of asking more of you, because you gave everything to be above the other,” admits Guille.

The two of them were in Gondomar until the end of the minor category. Then they went to Areosa. There, Guille played as a left winger and Hugo as a right winger. “We are so similar that if we played in the same band, we would get in each other’s way. If I’m behind, I double and he doesn’t give me, I’m going to get mad at him a lot more than anybody else,” says Guille.

Their paths diverged in the minors. Without going through any professional club, Hugo signed a contract with Wolves at the age of 16. Guille stayed one more at Areosa and then ended up at Dépor, to join the successful generation that won the Youth Champions Cup. Dortmund went after him to include him in their branch. “Even though distance seems to separate us, it brought us together, it was good for us. We have free afternoons and talk every day. He gives me a lot of cane, much more than I give him. It’s happened to me many times, that I leave the game thinking that I did amazing, and when I talk to him, he’s the only one who always has something to say. Sometimes I get angry and say, ‘Dude, stop it, you’re only looking bad’. But he does it to improve himself,” says Hugo.

“He was ever mad at me for that. He tells me that I only say bad things to him. I tell him that there are already many people who will tell him the good ones. Even if it sucks, I’ll keep doing it,” replies Guille. “I think you have to say it a little better,” replies Hugo. When we come to rest, and we spend a lot of time together, we end up arguing about the same things as always, like that the other one took your underpants, admits the Dortmund player. Of course, they don’t separate on vacation. A good part of the time at home, and the other, this time, in Barcelona.

“We fooled the judge that both of them were wearing bracelets”

Hugo and Guille Bueno were born a few minutes apart and started playing football at the same time, in the backyard of Los Sauces. “I remember an anecdote, when we were very small and we were still playing with school. I started as a goalkeeper and Guille was a player. There was a game in which the coach could not come, and the father of a teammate came. He confused us, he made a mistake, he sent my brother in goal, and he put me as a player in the field. We were so shy that no one said anything. During the break, my father, who was distraught, came down to the track to tell him that he had turned us upside down – recalls Hugo.

Have they ever squeezed that physical similarity to their advantage. “We were at Areosa and there was a game in which the coach could not decide, between Hugo and me, who would be the captain. We both wanted to be, but we were beginners and only one could be. The referee did not allow the bracelet to pass from one to the other. We changed him at halftime, we tricked him, and he didn’t know. The first part was carried by one, and the second by the other”, says Guille with amusement. “I didn’t want to let him take it and I didn’t,” he admits.

His parents share the journey between Wolverhampton and Dortmund. “My mother has a bad distance, she would rather we were both at home. Now I’m going to move, and he’s going to help me. This year, the idea is that they visit us more,” deciphers Hugo.