Emerson Ferreira da Rosa (born 4 April 1976), simply known as Emerson, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
1997
At international level, he played 73 games for the Brazil national team between 1997 and 2006, scoring 6 goals.
In 1997, Emerson was transferred to Bayer Leverkusen.
He made his debut on 1 August 1997 against Schalke 04.
Leverkusen finished in third place in the 1997–98 Bundesliga season.
This was followed by two consecutive second-place finishes in the Bundesliga, behind champions Bayern Munich on both occasions.
Emerson spent three years at Leverkusen, scoring 11 goals in 82 league appearances.
On 13 August 1997, he made his debut in UEFA competitions in the qualifying round for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, in Bayer Leverkusen's 6–1 aggregate win over Dinamo Tbilisi.
Leverkusen would eventually reach the Champions League quarter-finals, losing out to eventual champions Real Madrid.
Emerson also reached the UEFA Cup round of 16 on two occasions with Leverkusen.
1998
With Brazil, he has taken part in two FIFA World Cups (1998, 2006, missing out on the 2002 FIFA World Cup due to injury), two editions of the Copa América (1999, 2001), and three Confederations Cups (1999, 2003, 2005), winning the 1999 Copa América and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, while also reaching the 1998 World Cup Final.
An experienced footballer who was nicknamed the Puma due to his powerful but elegant, ball-winning style of play, Emerson has played for two Brazilian clubs, Grêmio and Santos, as well as several European clubs in Germany, Italy, and Spain, including Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Juventus, Real Madrid and Milan, winning several titles.
In addition to his Brazilian passport, Emerson also holds Italian, German and Qatari passports.
Emerson made a name for himself in his native Brazil playing for Grêmio, where he won two state championships, two Brazilian Cups, one Brazilian Championship and one Copa Libertadores.
He then went to Europe to play for German club Bayer Leverkusen.
2000
Emerson signed for Italian Serie A club Roma in the summer of 2000 for 35 billion Italian lire (€18.1 million by fixed exchange rate).
He signed a five-year contract with an average salary of 7.2 billion Italian lire per year before tax.
However, due to the quota imposed on non-EU players, Emerson was unable to play until Emerson acquired Italian nationality in October 2000, as his wife is Italian–Brazilian.
2001
Emerson made his Serie A debut in a 3–0 victory on 28 January 2001 against Napoli, replacing Marco Delvecchio in the 56th minute.
Roma eventually won the Scudetto and the Supercoppa Italiana in 2001.
2002
Roma would also reach the Coppa Italia final during the 2002–03 season, losing out to Milan.
2004
After a prolonged transfer saga in which Roma wanted to sell Emerson to Real Madrid instead of Serie A rivals Juventus, Emerson was eventually sold to Juventus (which he preferred) in 2004 for €12 million plus Matteo Brighi (who was valued at €16 million), following in the footsteps of his former club coach, Fabio Capello.
Moreover, an additional €4 million was paid to the agents, which made Emerson cost €32 million in total.
Emerson won two consecutive Serie A titles with Juventus during the 2004–05 and the 2005–06 seasons, but both titles were revoked following the club's involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal.
2006
After two seasons with Juventus, and following their relegation to Serie B due to their role in the 2006 Italian football scandal, Emerson moved to Real Madrid on 19 July 2006, again following Fabio Capello, costing Real Madrid €16 million.
2007
However, due to the declining relationship between Emerson and Capello and Emerson's poor performances for Real Madrid, in January 2007 Emerson stated his desire to return to Juventus, while it was rumoured he would be willing to take a pay cut.
However, by May, Emerson's performances had improved considerably, along with a great improvement in the team's results, and on 12 May 2007 he declared his intention to remain with Real Madrid.
But in his conversation with the radio program El Larguero, Real Madrid club president Ramón Calderón said Emerson would leave Real Madrid in the summer (along with the Italian striker Antonio Cassano) for technical reasons.
Emerson won La Liga in his only season with Real Madrid.
On 21 August 2007, Milan officially confirmed the transfer of Emerson for €6 million.
He made his Milan debut in the club's 3–1 UEFA Super Cup victory over Sevilla on 31 August.
However, Emerson was unable to contribute significantly to his new club due to injury, only managing 20 appearances for Milan in the 2007–08 season.
Nonetheless, he was also able to win the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup with Milan.
2009
On 21 April 2009, he and the club mutually agreed to terminate his contract.
Immediately following his release, Emerson began negotiations with Grêmio with the aim of ending his career with his first club.
However, due to international transfer restrictions, Emerson was unable to join Grêmio until August 2009 at the earliest.
After his release from Milan, on 26 July 2009 Emerson signed a contract with Santos.
On 16 October 2009, Emerson decided to terminate his contract and leave Santos due to injury problems.
Emerson then underwent surgery and retired from active competition.
2015
On 3 November 2015, Emerson announced he was joining Miami Dade FC of the American Premier Soccer League (APSL).
