Profile of Real Madrid's Emerson

Profile of Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, courtesy of RealMadrid.com:

Career:

With Emerson Ferreira Da Rosa, Real Madrid has won a superb field marshal. Serious in defense and with tenacious ball-winning skills, he also knows how and when to play the ball with short or drive passes, depending on the circumstances. He displays great energy and stamina, traits typical of the archetypal industrious midfielder, but he also likes to push forward and has a considerable and powerful mid-range shot, thus scoring a good number of goals for a defensive midfielder.

Emerson is a product of the youth system of Gremio de Porto Alegre, with whom he won the Libertadores Cup, the South American Champions League, in 1995. It was the step prior to his European leap in 1997. His first team there was Bayer Leverkusen. His performances in the Bundesliga as defensive midfielder did not go unnoticed in the Italian Calcio. His tactical abilities urged Roma and Fabio Capello to sign him in 2000, winning the Scudetto that same season, in 2001. The Italian manager left the Roman club for Juventus, as did Emerson, who also landed in Turin, where he would again win another two Serie A titles in 2005 and 2006, although the Vecchia Signora has been stripped of these last League title following the ‘Moggigate’ scandal.

Track Record:
1 Libertadores Cup (Grêmio, 1995)
2 Italian Scudettos (Roma, 2001 & Juventus, 2005)
1 Confederations Cup (Brazil, 2005)

Curious Facts:
Emerson has been a fixture in the starting line-ups of the different national managers of Brazil. His biggest achievement to date with the ‘Canarinha’ was the 2005 Confederations Cup. Still, Emerson has bittersweet memories with his national team. In 2002, he missed the Korea & Japan World Cup after injuring his shoulder when he was acting as goalkeeper during a training session. He has never done that again.

For a few years now, Emerson is known to the fans and to the press as ‘The Puma’. His teammates at Real Madrid have already started using this nickname to address the new signing during trainings.