West Ham United left-back Emerson could see his home country of Brazil become world champions later this month.
Despite winning the European Championships with Italy in July 2021, Emerson, who signed from Chelsea in the summer, was born in Santos, Brazil and lived there until joining Italian side Palermo in 2014, having also won the Under-17s South American title in 2011.
A member of Brazil's current squad is fellow summer signing Lucas Paqueta, who has started three of Selecao's matches at the tournament and scored during their 4-1 win over South Korea in the round of 16 on Monday.
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Emerson is someone who knows Paqueta better than most memebers of the current West Ham squad, not only because of their Brazilian connection, but the duo also played 33 times together for French side Olympique Lyonnais last season, with Paqueta there permanently and Emerson there on a loan spell from Chelsea.
The Hammers left-back, who had a hand in two of the Irons' four goals against Cambridge United on Tuesday night, is happy to see good friend Paqueta starring at the World Cup and hopes to see him help Brazil win the World Cup for the sixth time in their history.
“I've said many times before that he is a top player, everybody knows this and I'm very happy for him," said Emerson.
"I spoke with him on the phone on Monday [after Brazil’s round of 16 win over South Korea] and I’m here to support him to remain in this form and win this World Cup.”
Emerson has said that while he would like to see Brazil win the World Cup, he will also be hoping to see his friends and teammates do well at the competition. Including Paqueta, four memebers of the current West Ham squad are in the World Cup quarter-finals, with Declan Rice (England), Alphonse Areola (France) and Nayef Aguerd (Morocco) all three games away from lifting the World Cup trophy.
For family reasons, he wants Brazil to get the job done, starting with their quarter-final clash with Croatia on Friday afternoon, but will also be supporting his friends in football and teammates at West Ham.
“I support my friends. I always support my friends who include Dec and Alphonse, but of course all my family is Brazilian and I am very close to them," added Emerson.
"But then, in the end, we are all friends and we are brothers so that's the most important thing!”
Across spells with Palermo and Roma, Emerson has played 56 club matches in Italy between 2014 and 2018 before joining Chelsea and will return to the country he has won 28 caps for this weekend when West Ham face Udinese on Saturday in a mid-season friendly.
Emerson is looking forward to a return to Italy and feels that a test against Udinese will be good preperation for the return to the Premier League, starting on Boxing Day away at current leaders Arsenal.
“It’s good to be back in Italy for a game, and for me it’s always good to be in Italy," Emerson explained.
"For us, it’s a tough game for sure because Udinese are playing well this season, so we have to prepare well and play well to win the game.”
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