Émerson Leão

"Leão" redirects here. For other uses, see Leão (disambiguation).

Leão

Personal information
Full name	Émerson Leão
Date of birth	(1949-07-11) July 11, 1949
Place of birth	Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	São Paulo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1968–1970	Comercial	?	(?)
1971–1978	Palmeiras	163	(0)
1979–1980	Vasco da Gama	24	(0)
1981–1982	Grêmio	46	(0)
1983	Corinthians	13	(0)
1984–1985	Palmeiras	31	(0)
1986	Sport Recife	0	(0)
National team‡
1969–1986	Brazil	80	(0)
Teams managed
1987–1988	Sport Recife
1988–1989	Coritiba
1989–1990	Palmeiras
1990–1992	Portuguesa
1990–1991	São José
1991–1992	XV de Piracicaba
1992–1994	Shimizu S-Pulse
1995–1996	Juventude
1997–1998	Atlético Paranaense
1996–1997	Verdy Kawasaki
1997–1998	Atlético Mineiro
1998	Santos
2000	Sport Recife
2000–2001	Brazil
2001–2004	Santos
2004	Cruzeiro
2004–2005	São Paulo
2005	Vissel Kobe
2005–2006	Palmeiras
2006	São Caetano
2006–2007	Corinthians
2007	Atlético Mineiro
2008	Santos
2008-2009	Al-Sadd
2009	Atlético Mineiro
2009	Sport Recife
2010	Goiás
2011–	São Paulo
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 3, 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of December 12, 2008

Émerson Leão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛmeʁsõ leˈɐ̃w]; born July 11, 1949) is a Brazilian manager and former football player. He is one of the all-time best Brazilian goalkeepers. A documentary video produced by FIFA, FIFA Fever, called him the third-most impressive defense player of all time. He was born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo.

Playing career

He was World Cup champion in 1970 as a reserve player, when he was twenty years old. He then played the two following World Cups as first team player. He was the first Brazilian goalkeeper in history to be team captain (during the 1978 World Cup). Dida repeated the feat in 2006 in a group stage match against Japan. In the 1986 World Cup, Leão was a reserve player.

He played 80 times for the Brazilian national football team. At the club level, he played for several clubs, his longest term being at Palmeiras, where he won several titles, like Campeonato Brasileiro and Campeonato Paulista.

Playing honors

• 1969 – Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa and Ramón de Carranza Trophy (Palmeiras)
• 1970 – 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico (Brazil national football team)
• 1972 – Campeonato Paulista and Campeonato Brasileiro (Palmeiras)
• 1973 – Campeonato Brasileiro (Palmeiras)
• 1974 – Campeonato Paulista and Ramón de Carranza Trophy (Palmeiras)
• 1976 – Campeonato Paulista (Palmeiras)
• 1979 – Campeonato Brasileiro runner-up (Vasco do Gama)
• 1980 – Campeonato Gaúcho (Grêmio)
• 1981 – Campeonato Brasileiro (Grêmio)
• 1982 – Campeonato Brasileiro runner-up (Grêmio)
• 1983 – Campeonato Paulista (Corinthians)
• 1987 – Campeonato Brasileiro (Sport Recife)

Statistics

Club performance			League
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals
Brazil			League
1971	Palmeiras	Série A	24	0
1972			26	0
1973			36	0
1974			0	0
1975			26	0
1976			21	0
1977			18	0
1978			12	0
1979	Vasco da Gama	Série A	14	0
1980			10	0
1981	Grêmio	Série A	23	0
1982			23	0
1983	Corinthians	Série A	13	0
1984	Palmeiras	Série A	14	0
1985			17	0
1986	Sport Recife	Série A	0	0
Country	Brazil		277	0
Total			277	0

Brazil national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1970	2	0
1971	0	0
1972	4	0
1973	5	0
1974	15	0
1975	0	0
1976	5	0
1977	13	0
1978	12	0
1979	8	0
1980	0	0
1981	0	0
1982	0	0
1983	14	0
1984	0	0
1985	0	0
1986	2	0
Total	80	0

Managerial career

Leão has been a manager since 1987. He was São Paulo manager in 2005, winning the Campeonato Paulista of that year. He then moved to Vissel Kobe of Japan, where he stayed for only four matches. On July 18, 2005 he became Palmeiras' manager, a position he held until March, 2006. His peak as a manager was his second period at Santos, between 2002 and 2004, when he won the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2002, and was runner-up in both Copa Libertadores de América and Campeonato Brasileiro in 2003. Leão is often seen as a hardliner, since he demands perfect physical shape of his players, along with discipline and mutual respect. He is not fond of having well-known players on his teams, since he believes that this might cause relationship problems within the squad.

He was Brazilian national football team manager from November 15, 2000 until June 9, 2001. Of eleven matches, he won four, drew four, and lost three. Like his predecessor Vanderlei Luxemburgo, he struggled having top players available for qualifying matches. He tried to center the team around Romário and younger players with hardly any international experience. He also became the first sitting coach to travel to Europe to assess his players' activities there, where he was asked by the Europeans to not release Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos for matches that were not crucial.

Leão was dismissed by Atlético Mineiro on May 4, 2009, following a defeat to arch-rivals Cruzeiro in the final of a regional championship. This is ending his third stint as Atlético manager. On June 3, 2009 Sport Recife's have signed the coach for the up-coming 2009 Brasileirão championship, Leão was dismissed by Atlético Mineiro in May. On April 26, 2010 Leão was named as the new Goias Esporte Clube manager.</ref>

On 24 October 2012, São Paulo says it has hired Emerson Leao for a second spell in charge of the club.

Managerial honors

• 1987 – Campeonato Brasileiro (Sport Recife)
• 1992 – Kanagawa Cup (Shimizu S Pulse)
• 1996 – Emperor's Cup (Verdy Kawasaki)
• 1997 – Copa Conmebol (Atlético Mineiro)
• 1998 – Copa Conmebol (Santos)
• 2000 – Campeonato Pernambucano (Sport Recife)
• 2002 – Campeonato Brasileiro (Santos)
• 2005 – Campeonato Paulista (São Paulo)

References

• Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro, Volume 2 – Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001.
• Seleção Brasileira – 90 Anos – Rio de Janeiro: MAUAD, 2004.

External links

• Émerson Leão at National-Football-Teams.com
• Sambafoot – Leão's career as a manager