Emerson Moisés Costa (born 12 April 1972), known simply as Emerson, is a Brazilian retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. As well as in his country, he played professionally in Portugal, England, Spain and Scotland. He also received

Portuguese citizenship The primary law governing nationality of Portugal is the Nationality Act, which Coming into force, came into force on 3 October 1981. Portugal is a member state of the European Union (EU) and all Portuguese nationals are Citizenship of the Eur ...

, after he married his Portuguese wife.

Club career

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Emerson started playing with

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, but he soon moved to Coritiba in search of first-team football. In 1991 he began his extensive overseas spell, first with

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

in Portugal. After several impressive displays, Emerson secured a move to

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

. Under the management of former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

coach

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

, he won successive

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

titles, appeared in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and won the 1996 ''Portuguese Player of the Year'' award. By now, Emerson's performances had attracted interest from major European clubs, and eventually he signed with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, completing a £4 million move. It is alleged that the deal was done without manager

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

's knowledge, the manager only finding out after it was unwittingly mentioned by chief scout Ray Trainn; Emerson's cousin

Fábio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented in Portuguese as ''Fábio'' (with t ...

was also acquired, but played just one game in his 14-month spell. However, things turned sour quickly with Emerson's former manager Bobby Robson, now at

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, expressing his interest in bringing the player to the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

– this unsettled the midfielder, who by this time had already endured relegation to Division One in addition to difficulties in adjusting to life on

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

. He travelled to Brazil for a break at the end of 1997, and once there threatened that he would not return to the club. Eventually the dispute was resolved with a move to

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

in January 1998, for around £4.25 million. Surprisingly, Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb later stated that he had tried to re-sign Emerson after Tenerife were relegated, and the latter remained in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

until 2000 when he moved to

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

, after the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

' 2000 conquest of the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

title. He often partnered compatriot

Mauro Silva Mauro da Silva Gomes (; born 12 January 1968), known as Mauro Silva, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. A hard-working player with great stamina, as well as tackling and leadership skills, he ...

in his first year, but played sparingly in

the following ''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. The The Following (season 1), first s ...

. After further one-year stints with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, where he became the first ever Brazilian to play for the Scottish, scoring once against Panathinaikos in the 2003–04 Champions League. Emerson moved to Greece, joining

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

in the summer of 2005. After having stayed there only six months, he was transferred to

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

, in January 2006. On 21 November 2006, he played the whole match in the 1–0 victory against the eventual champions,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

for the

. On 23 May 2007, Emerson was released by AEK and signed for 2006–07 Cypriot First Division champions APOEL. However, in January of the following year, he returned to Brazil and ended his career playing for lowly

Madureira Esporte Clube Madureira Esporte Clube, usually abbreviated to Madureira, is a List of football clubs in Brazil, Brazilian football team based in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in the neighbourhood of Madureira, Rio de Janeiro, Madureira. The team compete in Campe ...

, at the Rio de Janeiro State League.

In pop culture

Emerson is widely known in Hungary, due to an infamous interview with his former teammate

Péter Lipcsei Péter Lipcsei (born 28 March 1972 in Kazincbarcika) is a Hungarian football manager and former professional player, who played as a midfielder. International career Lipcsei made his debut for the Hungary national team in 1991, and gained 58 ...

, who referred to Emerson as "black Emerson".

Honours

Porto *

: 1994–95, 1995–96 Middlesbrough *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 1996–97

References

External links

*
CBF data
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson 1972 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Premier League players English Football League players La Liga players Segunda División players Scottish Premier League players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players CR Flamengo footballers Coritiba Foot Ball Club players CR Vasco da Gama players Madureira Esporte Clube players C.F. Os Belenenses players FC Porto players Middlesbrough F.C. players CD Tenerife players Deportivo de La Coruña players Atlético Madrid footballers Rangers F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players APOEL FC players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus