Márcio Passos de Albuquerque (born 6 September 1978), known as Emerson Sheik or just Emerson, is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in Brazil, he represented Qatar internationally, leading to his nickname of "Sheik".
Club career
Early career
Emerson Sheik was born in Nova Iguaçu. As a promising teenager, he developed in Santos FC's youth system. He made his senior side debut in 1998.
Japan
Emerson Sheik went to Japan to join Kashima Antlers of the second division, for whom he scored 31 goals in 34 games during the 2000 season. After the season, he joined another second division team, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, with whom he continued his goal-scoring domination, registering 19 goals in 18 league games. In the middle of the 2001 season, however, he left Frontale to join the first division Kashiwa Reysol, for whom he has yet again excelled. He scored 71 league goals in 100 appearances for the Reds and won 2003 J1 League top scorer and 2004 J1 League MVP.
Al-Ittihad
Emerson Sheik later joined Saudi Arabia outfit Al-Ittihad with the transfer fee of 8 million US dollars in 2005.
Move to France
On 25 August 2007, Emerson Sheik signed a three-year contract with French side Olympique Lyonnais.
Return to Al-Ittihad
Emerson Sheik could not break into the first team at Rennes. Meanwhile, his previous team Al-Ittihad were going through a lean phase. They had many bad results and were 14 points behind unbeaten leaders Al-Ahli by the end of 2007. Their new import Mauro Zárate did not link up nicely with Emerson's ex-striking partner, Carlos Tenorio up front. The fans of Al-Ittihad started rooting for the return of Emerson. So Al-Sadd started negotiations with Emerson in December and on 19 December, the club's official website announced Emerson's return.
Vasco da Gama
On 1 February 2009, the former Santos FC and Lyon forward signed a season-long deal with childhood favorite Vasco da Gama; the 30-year-old was a free agent after leaving Al-Ittihad. He generally kept a good scoring record for the club, which long sought a competent striker before his arrival. In the Série B 2009 season, his partnership with Adriano was one of the league's most effective forward lines. Club legend Andrade praised both players' performance.
Al-Hilal FC
On 24 July 2009, he signed a two-year deal with Al-Hilal FC. He was presented to the press on 6 September 2009 and was handed the number 8 shirt.
Botafogo
On 19 July 2010, Emerson signed for Botafogo. On 22 December 2010, Emerson scored the winning goal for Botafogo to conquer the Brasileirão Série A title, making him a Brazilian champion for two years in a row.
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
On 11 April 2011, Emerson Sheik signed for Palmeiras. On 21 December 2011, he won his third Brazilian championship in a row with the Verdão, making him the first player in history to win three straight Brazilian championships with three different teams.
On 4 July 2012, Emerson scored two goals in the second match of the 2012 Copa Libertadores Finals, helping Palmeiras to win their first Copa Libertadores. On 16 December 2012, he was part of the Corinthians team which won the FIFA World Club Championship, beating West Ham 1–0. In the last few minutes of the game, he was involved in an off-the-ball incident with Gary Cahill, in which Emerson fell to the ground holding his face. Cahill received a red card, but the Englishman claimed Emerson fouled him first before diving.
In an interview for Esporte Espetacular, an attraction of Rede Globo, Emerson showed his dislike for Mano Menezes, coach of the club. Emerson Sheik told reporters: "I do not wanna work with him [Mano] anymore." Still, according to the former palmeirense: "I think he [Mano] is a very limited coach. I did not see anything special in him, and I do not think he will improve, because he does not have the humility to ask something."
Emerson Sheik returned to Palmeiras in 2015 as Marcelo Oliveira returned to the club as the new manager. He was a first choice for many of the first games of the season, including the 2015 Copa Libertadores. After Corinthians was eliminated in the Round of 16, the club opted against renegotiating Emerson's contract, due to end in 31 July of the same year. He was released on 12 June, after both sides reached an agreement on the matter.
Fluminense
In February 2014, he was loaned to Fluminense, his third club in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He took the shirt number seven, used before by Botafogo's biggest idol, Nonô.
International career
Emerson Sheik played 1999 South American Youth Championship for U-20 Brazil, while he was still known as aged 18 instead of 21. He was offered Qatari citizenship by Al-Sadd so that they could accommodate one more foreign player in their line-up. He accepted and he became a Qatari citizen in 2008. He made his international debut for the Qatar national team on 4 March 2008 in a friendly against Bahrain. He also played the next friendly, vs. Jordan, on 16 March and a World Cup qualifying match, vs. Iraq, on 26 March.
In April 2008, it was revealed that Emerson Sheik had also played for the Brazil under-20 team which makes him ineligible to play for the Qatari national team. Taking that into consideration, and that he represented Qatar in the World Cup qualifier against Iraq on 26 March, Qatar breached the FIFA rules, and Qatar could have lost the three points they gained from the game against Iraq. FIFA confirmed the breach of laws but said that QFA is not responsible for any wrongdoing, and that Emerson has since not played for Qatar. Although FIFA has loosened the nationality transfer of uncapped players and players with multi-nationality, it was not beneficial to Emerson, because he did not hold multi-nationality when representing Brazil.
Controversy
Emerson Sheik was detained by the Brazilian federal police on his way back to Qatar on 20 January 2006 for allegedly falsifying a birth certificate to show that he was three years younger than his actual age. The fake birth certificate, which was used to issue his passport, said that he was born on 6 December 1981 in Nova Iguaçu with the name "Márcio Emerson Passos", but his original shows he was born 6 September 1978, with the name "Márcio Passos de Albuquerque".
Kiss issue
On 25 August 2013, after the 1–0 victory over Clube Athletico Paranaense in the Brasileirão, Emerson Sheik celebrated by kissing his friend and posting the photo on Instagram.
On 26 August, one day after the incident, homophobic Corinthians supporters protested the kiss during a training session. Emerson Sheik called the protests an "idiotic prejudice".
On 28 August, in the first game after the incident, a 1–0 loss against Cuiabá in the 2013 Copa do Brasil, Emerson Sheik was sent off along with opposition player Zé Roberto after they argued. Speaking to the press after the game, Zé Roberto, in reference to Emerson, said: "I am not the guy that takes a kiss from anyone, I do not accept this kind of thing."
Career statistics
Club
FIFA Club World Cup
* Friendly
International
Honors
Club
Kashima Antlers
- J1 League: 2000
Kashiwa Reysol
- J.League Cup: 2003
Al-Hilal
- Saudi Arabian Championship: 2009
Vasco da Gama
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2009
- Campeonato Carioca: 2009
- Taça Rio: 2009
Botafogo
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2010
Palmeiras
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2011, 2015
- Campeonato Paulista: 2013, 2018
- Copa Libertadores: 2012
- Recopa Sudamericana: 2013
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2012
Individual
- J.League MVP Award: 2003
- J.League Top Scorer: 2004
- J.League Best XI: 2002, 2003, 2004
- Qatar National First Division MVP: 2006
- Copa Libertadores: 2012 Best Player
References
External links
- Márcio Passos de Albuquerque's profile, stats & pics
- Emerson at National-Football-Teams.com
- Emerson Sheik – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
- Emerson – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Emerson Sheik at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
