Peace and goodwill on Teeside

MIDDLESBROUGH fans can sleep well in their beds tonight: there are 25 days left until Christmas and Emerson Moises Costa and Oswaldo Giroldo Junior (Juninho) intend spending each and every one of them on Teesside. They are both excited about it: the tree is already up and decorated in Juninho's hallway while Emerson has started dreaming of seeing his first white Christmas.

Yes, this is the same Emerson of whom we have read much these past three weeks the one who was so disenchanted with football in Middlesbrough and whose wife could not settle into the Teesside lifestyle that the pair of them ran back to Brazil proclaiming they would never return.

And yes, this is the same Juninho, the one who also wants to leave Middlesbrough because only in Italy could his ambitions be satisfied, the country where even the smallest club is better organised than the Boro.

There is, however, one key word missing here and it is "allegedly." According to Juninho and Emerson all that has been written since November 3rd has either been gossip, a complete misreading of their situation or just plain invention.

Emerson, in particular, almost overnight developed a reputation as a troublesome brat who, basically, wants to join Barcelona. Untrue, he says. And that is also his response to a query about those now notorious remarks attributed to him before boarding that flight bound for Brazil. In fact this, he says, is the first time he has spoken to the press since his arrival in May.

Understanding questions in English but responding via an interpreter in Portuguese, Emerson said: "This is my first interview. I can assure you this is the first time I have spoken to the English press. I wanted to sue that paper The Sun but the club said it was not a good idea because of the publicity it would attract."

Asked how such detailed comments could have appeared Emerson replied: "I'd like to know because it's a sordid story. That's why I wanted to sue because then I would know where the story came from."

Emerson has his suspicions as to the source and he does concede that it was "well informed" and added: "It could be someone, who wanted to destabilise my position at the club."

There is a certain inconsistency in this statement because if the source was "well informed," then that means there were, and may still be, problems between Emerson and Middlesbrough. His wife, Andrea, has found it difficult to settle in the Northeast and Branco's leaving did not exactly help, but the dislocation was not enough to have Emerson fleeing to Brazil, a country he has not lived in for five years.

"The major problem," said Emerson, "was the interview that was published. The club had let me go home for a holiday because I was suspended for three games. If it wasn't for that bloody interview, none of this talk would be around. I can say that I am happy at Middlesbrough. I think all this stuff is envy because people cannot believe that a club like Middlesbrough can be signing great international players.

At this point during our lengthy conversation in Juninho's front room, Juninho nodded his head in agreement and said: "We both have nice houses, live in a nice area and this idea that we have a miserable life in awful Middlesbrough, it's just not true."

Juninho denied stories that claimed he had said how great Italian football was, and how well organised clubs there are compared to Middlesbrough: "How could I have said that? I haven't played in Italy."

One tale Juninho did verify was that he did not know where Middlesbrough was before talking to the club. "It's true, I didn't know about Middlesbrough but, of course, I asked and they explained. Then I came over for four days to have a medical and if I had thought `ugh,' I could have said `no'." Emerson leaned across his friend and said: "When you go abroad you don't just go without asking."

As the two amigos sat side by side, with Juninho's mother and father making sure everyone was okay for coffee (Brazilian) and biscuits (bourbons), they gave a pretty convincing impression of genuine contentment. Both players' English is more than useful, Juninho continues to take lessons twice a week and he is keen to stress their personal well-being.

He felt the image of Brazilians had been damaged by the shenanigans surrounding Emerson, and he wanted to reassure the fans of their commitment to the club. It is, however, conditional on two things, one specific - the other unpredictable.

"As long as the club keep to their assurances and are ambitious," said Juninho, "we will stay. But we have not come here just to play in the Premier League, we came here to win. As long as the club keeps investing in players we will stay and make Middlesbrough, a success. It is a small town, quiet in a positive sense, and it is a small club. We know we will be valued for achieving something here."

Just who would value them is the unforeseeable aspect of the equation. Barcelona for instance? "Barcelona is just speculation," said Emerson. "They have never talked to me. But if you are asking me if Barcelona or Milan bid for me would I think about it, then I would - any player would. If they wanted Bryan Robson tomorrow do you think he, would think about it? Of course he would. If is a big word: if my father was a woman I'd have two mothers."

Emerson is a big smile of a man with a personality to match. You could say that someone who looks like the love child of Snoop Doggy Dogg and Lionel Richie and who is named after a racing driver needs one. Although, as he explained, scores of Brazilian boys born in 1972 - the first year Emerson Fittipaldi won the World Championship - are called Emerson, four footballers in Portugal alone.

He spends a lot of his free time around the corner at Juninho's playing cards at the kitchen table and in the evenings, unlikely as it may sound, both players have enjoyed going out and socialising with their team-mates in the night spots of Stockton, Redcar and Yarm.

Juninho is reserved by comparison and it may be of some consolation to know that job insecurity even touches a man in his position. One reason Boro fans can relax about Juninho's immediate future is that his contract is long and lucrative, and much better than in Brazil. Honour is also a word mentioned in his house.

Other reasons are that he and Emerson love the atmosphere at the Riverside, think that English football is fast, fair and entertaining, and that Craig Hignett is "wonderful." They do not think Wednesday night's enthralling victory over Newcastle was a turning-point because, they say, Boro have played well for a month and a place in Europe is still a realistic aim.

Ultimately all the fuss may have done some good because Emerson and Juninho realise how much they are cherished by Middlesbrough and the club may have woken up to the size of the ambitions burning inside their two Brazilians. They could all be in for a happy Christmas.