Émerson Leão (; born 11 July 1949) is a Brazilian former footballer and manager. He is regarded by pundits as one of best Brazilian goalkeepers of all time. A documentary video produced by FIFA, ''FIFA Fever'', called him the third-most impressive defense player of all time. He was born in

Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a municipality and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil. Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-largest municipality in the State wit ...

, São Paulo.

Playing career

He was a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

champion in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

as a reserve player, at age 20. He then played the two following World Cups as first team player. He was the first Brazilian

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in history to be team captain (during the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

Dida In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) is an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14-16). DiDA was introduc ...

repeated the feat in 2006 in a group stage match against Japan. In the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

, Leão was a reserve player. He played 80 times for the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

. At club level, he played for several clubs, his longest term being at

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

, where he won several titles, like Campeonato Brasileiro and Campeonato Paulista.

Managerial career

Leão has been a manager since 1987. He was

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

manager in 2005, winning the Campeonato Paulista of that year. He then moved to

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matc ...

of Japan, where he stayed for only four matches. On 18 July 2005, he became the manager of Palmeiras, a position he held until March 2006. His peak as a manager was his second period at Santos, between 2002 and 2004, when he won the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2002, and was runner-up in both Copa Libertadores de América and Campeonato Brasileiro in 2003. Leão is often seen as a hardliner, since he demands perfect physical shape of his players, along with discipline and mutual respect. He is not fond of having well-known players on his teams, since he believes that this might cause relationship problems within the squad. He was the manager of the Brazil nation team from 15 November 2000 until 9 June 2001. From 11 matches, his Brazil side won 4, drew 4 and lost 3. Like his predecessor

Vanderlei Luxemburgo Vanderlei Luxemburgo da Silva (born 10 May 1952) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is currently a free agent. A left wingback, Luxemburgo represented Flamengo, Internacional and Botafogo before retiring in 1980. ...

, he struggled having top players available for qualifying matches. He tried to centre the squad around Romário and younger players with little international experience. He also became the first sitting coach to travel to Europe to assess his players' activities there, where he was asked by the Europeans to not release

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a ...

and

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

for matches that were not crucial. Leão was dismissed by

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

on 4 May 2009 following a defeat to arch-rivals Cruzeiro in the final of a regional championship. This ended his third stint as Atlético head coach. On 3 June 2009,

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

's have signed the coach for the up-coming 2009 Brasileirão championship. On 26 April 2010, Leão was named as the new manager of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

. On 24 October 2011, São Paulo announced it had hired Leão for a second managerial spell in charge of the club. On 30 August 2012, after two months unattached, Leão was hired by São Caetano, then participating in Série B.

Controversies

Leão is known for his controversial attitudes and declarations. In 1997, after a game between his Atlético Mineiro and Argentine side

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

in the Conmebol Cup final, Leão was involved in a massive fight with adversaries. Leão had to rebuild his face after the incident. In 2002, when he coached Santos, and ''Peixe'' faced Paysandu, Leão was involved again in a fight. This time, when his players faced policemen, the coach received an aggression in his eyes by a

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, ...

. In 2006, then coaching Palmeiras, Leão had problems with television pundit Milton Neves, that had kicked another television pundit, Sílvio Luiz, according to Leão. Leão said to Neves: "When you kicked Silvio Luiz's ass, a 70-year-old man, you boasted. Come to kick mine!" In 2010, training Goiás, Leão discussed again with two another television pundits, Renata Fan and Neto. According to Leão, Neto "would not have psychological conditions to speak in a television channel". But the problems between them would happen since 1989, when Leão coached Neto in

. In 2013, in research made for sportive site UOL Esporte, Leão was elected the worst coach from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He had 16 votes.

Celso Roth Celso Juarez Roth (born 30 November 1957 in Caxias do Sul) is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as a central defender. He is the current head coach of Juventude. Coaching career On 4 May 2009 the former Grêmio coach ...

was chosen the second one. Again in 2013, Leão said that Juvenal Juvêncio, president of

, club that he coached for two times (between 2004 and 2005 and, after, between 2011 and 2012), should abdicate, for his age, of his position, making like pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

. Juvêncio answered to Leão, saying that the coach "needs to find another job soon".

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Player

;Club ;Palmeiras *1969 – Campeonato Brasileiro and

Ramón de Carranza Trophy The Ramón de Carranza Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ramón de Carranza) is a pre-season football tournament organised by Cádiz City Hall, in memory of its former mayor, Ramón de Carranza – after whom the Cádiz F.C. stadium used to be named as well ...

*1972 – Campeonato Paulista and Campeonato Brasileiro *1973 – Campeonato Brasileiro *1974 – Campeonato Paulista and Ramón de Carranza Trophy *1976 – Campeonato Paulista *1978 – Campeonato Brasileiro runner-up ;Vasco *1979 – Campeonato Brasileiro runner-up ;Grêmio *1980 –

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

*1981 – Campeonato Brasileiro *1982 – Campeonato Brasileiro runner-up ;Corinthians *1983 – Campeonato Paulista ;Sport *1987 – Campeonato Brasileiro ;Internacional *1970 – 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico

Manager

;Sport *2000 – Campeonato Pernambucano ;Shimizu S Pulse *1992 – Kanagawa Cup ;Verdy Kawasaki *1996 – Emperor's Cup ;Atlético Mineiro *1997 –

Copa Conmebol The Copa CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contes ...

;Santos *1998 – Copa Conmebol *2002 – Campeonato Brasileiro ;São Paulo *2005 – Campeonato Paulista

Individual

*1972 – Bola de Prata - Best Goalkeeper *1979 –

FIFA XI FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 2 – Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001. *''Seleção Brasileira – 90 Anos'' – Rio de Janeiro: MAUAD, 2004.

External links

*
Sambafoot – Leão's career as a manager
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leao, Emerson People from Ribeirão Preto Brazilian footballers Association football goalkeepers 1970 FIFA World Cup players 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1979 Copa América players 1983 Copa América players FIFA World Cup-winning players Brazil international footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players 1949 births Living people Brazilian football managers Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Japan Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers J1 League managers 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup managers Comercial Futebol Clube (Ribeirão Preto) players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players CR Vasco da Gama players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Sport Club do Recife players Sport Club do Recife managers Coritiba Foot Ball Club managers Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras managers Associação Portuguesa de Desportos managers São José Esporte Clube managers Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) managers Shimizu S-Pulse managers Esporte Clube Juventude managers Club Athletico Paranaense managers Tokyo Verdy managers Clube Atlético Mineiro managers Santos FC managers Sport Club Internacional managers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense managers Brazil national football team managers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube managers São Paulo FC managers Vissel Kobe managers Associação Desportiva São Caetano managers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista managers Al Sadd SC managers Goiás Esporte Clube managers Footballers from São Paulo (state)