CNN.com - Emerson's pain at World Cup exit

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Emerson, his arm in a sling, arrives for a news conference
Emerson, his arm in a sling, arrives for a news conference 


ULSAN, South Korea, (Reuters) -- Captain Emerson, considered the hard man of the Brazil team, was close to tears on Monday and said he was "hurting inside" after being forced out of the World Cup through a bizarre injury.

"This is really very difficult, this hurts, it hurts inside," said the midfielder, speaking less than 24 hours after dislocating his shoulder when playing as goalkeeper in a light-hearted training game.

"I'm sad. It's a very difficult situation. You only know how much it hurts when it happens."

Emerson, who has taken over the captaincy under coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in the last year, was told in the dressing room by team doctor Jose Luis Runco that he would need a month to recover and was therefore out of the tournament.

"When something has to happen, it happens...you can fall down the stairs and get hurt. It could have happened to any player but it happened to me. I'll just have to lift my head up and think of the future.

"When it happened I never thought I would have to leave the Brazil team, you never think the worst. I just thought about whether I would be able to play today (Monday). Afterwards in the dressing room, the doctor was very sincere, in fact he was a bit tough, but he gave it to me straight.

"Afterwards, I spoke to my team-mates, the only thing I said was that if I can't play, I will stay with them. Now, I have to find the strength, I don't know from where, to help my team mates."

He will be replaced by Corinthians midfielder Ricardinho while Cafu takes the captaincy.

Brazil's general manager Americo Faria said: "Emerson's presence is tremendously important, he exercises significant leadership and we know we will miss him a lot.

"He is very sad but I'm sure the success of the Brazil team will reduce Emerson's suffering."

Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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