26 Jan 2006(Thu)

January 25, 2006: True to form, Emerson was in the news again recently...for cheating.

Now this should not come as a surprise to football lovers in Japan, as he cheated on the pitch by diving extravagantly, rolling around as if seriously injured, and trying as hard as possible to get an opponent sent off.

Reds fans and coaches turned a blind eye to all this because he scored goals, but he even let them down by walking out on the club last season and moving to Qatar.

Now, the authorities have finally caught up with him, and arrested him at Rio de Janeiro International Airport as he attempted to return to the Middle East.

His passport gave his date of birth as September 6, 1981, the same as he used to register with the J.League when he joined Consadole Sapporo in February 2000.

Checking all the details, the authorities in Brazil discovered that his original birth certificate gave his date of birth as December 6, 1978. In other words, Emerson was three years older than he would have us all believe.

Does that surprise you?

No, it doesn't surprise me, either.

I was always suspicious of his alleged age, and couldn't stop laughing when an asterisk appeared against his name on the team sheet for Nabisco Cup matches. An asterisk meant a player was eligible to be voted Nabisco Cup newcomer, as he was under 23, but I never considered Emerson for this award -- and would not have done if he'd scored a double hat-trick in every match.

Emerson, in fact, is 27 years old, and was 21 when he joined Consadole for the start of the 2000 season.

The puzzle is: why was he busted this time, when he has gone in and out of Brazil on so many occasions? Did someone tip off immigration?

And why did he change his birth certificate? To stand more chance of playing for Brazil at age-group level? To give him more years at the top to earn the riches he is making in the Gulf?

His goals records in Japan still stand, of course, because it does not matter how old you are. Still, at least everyone now knows his true age.

ends