Position: Midfielder
Born: 04.04.76
Club: Juventus

The man nicknamed 'The Cougar' for the way he moves around the pitch has become one of the world's best defensive midfielders yet his defensive qualities sometimes hide the fact that he is an accomplished dribbler and capable of killer passes.

Emerson began his career in Brazil at Gremio before signing for Bayer Leverkusen in 1997.

His reputation grew in Germany and after a long-running transfer saga, he signed for Roma in a 19.3million euros deal, a German record at the time.

He won the Scudetto in his first season, but he played just 13 games as a cruciate knee ligament injury ruled him out for most of the campaign.

In July 2004 Juventus paid 27million euros for his services and Emerson followed coach Fabio Capello from Rome to Turin. He played a much bigger part this time as Juve won the Scudetto in 2005.

At international level, Emerson missed the 2002 World Cup having broken his arm playing in goal just days before the tournament started.

He will be looking to make amends for missing out there, and will provide the solid foundations that Brazil's attacking flair is built on.