Edmilson nearly joined Arsenal
After being denied a move to Arsenal, the versatile star won the World Cup with Brazil, then the Champions League at Barcelona
Who were your Brazilian heroes growing up?
I fell in love with football because of the Brazil teams at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. My two big role models were Toninho Cerezo and Falcao, as I admired their technique and class. I was lucky enough to be Cerezo’s successor at Sao Paulo in the mid- 90s.
You won three Ligue 1 titles at Lyon, as they started a run of seven in a row. Why did that team have so much success?
We must recognise the guy who had the vision behind every department of the club: president Jean- Michel Aulas. For a decade, he was way ahead of everyone in French football. He made some bold signings, like Sonny Anderson from Barcelona. I had everything agreed for a move to Arsenal, but ended up at Lyon.
What happened with Arsenal?
Arsene Wenger was friends with Jose Fuentes, who’d been working for Peugeot in Brazil and became my agent. My name was mentioned, then Wenger came to Brazil to watch me play and we spoke. He told me he was looking for a tall, dynamic midfielder who was versatile enough to play in more than one position. We agreed on terms, but unfortunately I couldn’t meet the criteria to get a work permit. I hadn’t played enough times for Brazil and didn’t have
the Italian passport I have now. It was hard to take, because I wanted a move to Europe, but then Lyon came and I was happy to join them. What I can say is that Wenger showed me his ideas, and I can understand how he changed the English game forever. The Premier League is the best in the world, and he played a huge role in that.
You won the 2002 World Cup. How did Brazil manage that after finishing third, 13 points behind Argentina, in qualifying?
Winning the best football tournament on Earth depends on several factors. We came through a hard qualifying campaign with four different managers: Vanderlei Luxemburgo, Candinho, Emerson Leao and Felipao [ Luiz Felipe Scolari]. There was uncertainty about whether Rivaldo and Ronaldo would play, and public pressure to have Romario in the squad, so it was key for the squad to be united. Felipao is the master at that. We won the World Cup thanks to talent, unity, and a brilliant atmosphere in our camp during the 52 days we spent away from Brazil.
You scored an overhead kick against Costa Rica – what did that mean to you?
I was competent enough to start the move at one end and finish it at the other. That was the spontaneous side of what represents Brazilian football at its best. I tried it many times in my childhood for fun. That improvisation doesn’t come as naturally to Germans and Italians, for example, as it does to Brazilians.
What was the key game of the tournament?
The toughest game was against Belgium in the last 16. They had a great side and we struggled quite a lot during the first half. They had a goal mistakenly disallowed, although we could still have won if it had stood. I think that game was harder than the quarter- final against England, when we played most of the second half with 10 men after Ronaldinho’s red card.
You joined Barcelona in 2004, when the club hadn’t won a trophy for five years. How was the atmosphere at the Camp Nou?
I was well aware it was the beginning of a new project with the addition of players like Samuel Eto’o and Deco, and Ronaldinho a year earlier. Barcelona hadn’t competed in the Champions
League in 2003- 04, so they then put together a five- year plan. We won La Liga straight away, but Barça’s biggest target was the Champions League and we had some experienced players to achieve that. The previous season, I’d lost in the quarter- finals with Lyon, Deco had won it at Porto with some unbelievable performances, and Ludovic Giuly had been a runner- up with Monaco. Those years between 2003 and 2006 were vital to turn Barcelona into the club they are now. That was the start of everything, and then Pep Guardiola came along to take them to another level.
What was it like playing in El Clasico while Barça were going through that restructure?
It was fantastic because we played against the Galacticos! [ Laughs] First came Roberto Carlos, then another big name, then another one… it was an exceptional team, what can I say? On paper, they had bigger names than us and we knew it would be a challenge. Throughout my four seasons at the Camp Nou we won and lost Clasicos, but we had a terrific rivalry with Real Madrid as it always should be.
Tell us about the first time you spotted the emerging Lionel Messi?
I first saw him training right at the start of my time at Barça. I couldn’t play in the first three matches because of a suspension I received in France, so I practised with the B and academy teams. At that time, my agent even asked me if there were any young players worth having a look at. I remember telling him there was an Argentine, but didn’t know his name. The first thing that struck me was how cold- blooded he was – he didn’t care much about things going on around him, he just focused on playing. In 2005- 06 he was usually on the bench and got injured a lot, so Barça made a special physical plan for him. We’d already seen his talent, but it was hard to imagine the incredible sequence of years that have followed.
You won the 2006 Champions League Final against Arsenal, the team you’d come close to joining. What are your memories?
We had a man advantage after Jens Lehmann was sent off, but then we conceded. It meant either myself or Mark van Bommel needed to go off at half- time, so the team could push up. I was substituted, because I’d fallen badly on my back. Frank Rijkaard really set the team up to attack and we nearly went 2- 0 down at the beginning of the second half, but Victor Valdes made a great save. Replacing me with Andres Iniesta at half- time was the right thing to do, then Henrik Larsson came on for Van Bommel after 60 minutes. We had four forwards on the pitch, plus Deco and Iniesta just behind them. Rijkaard took an even bigger gamble when he brought on Juliano Belletti for Oleguer with his last substitution, to push the team even higher upfield. And what happened next? Belletti got the winner, so it was definitely worth the risk! It was a wonderful night in Paris – everything I’d dreamed of since first leaving Sao Paulo for Europe six years earlier.