Luciano Emilio

Football player infobox| playername= Luciano Emilio
fullname = Luciano Emilio
nickname = Luci


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|12|12
cityofbirth = Ilha Solteira, São Paulo
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = Height|ft=5|in=11
currentclub = D.C. United
clubnumber = 11
position = Striker
Goals Scored (2007-2008 MLS Season) = 10 (as of 7-5-08)
youthclubs =
years =1996-1997
1997-1999
1999-2001
2001-2002
2002-2004
2004-2005
2005
2005-2006
2007-
clubs = Rio Branco EC
1. FC Köln
Alemannia Aachen
União Barbarense
Real España
Olimpia
Querétaro
Olimpia
D.C. United
caps(goals) =
06 00(0)
24 00(1)
18 0(13)
54 0(31)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 2 August 2008
ntupdate = 1 March 2007

Luciano Emilio (born December 12, 1978 in Ilha Solteira, Brazil) is a Brazilian soccer player, who currently plays with MLS club D.C. United. He was signed under the Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule. He is one of two Designated Players for D.C. United (the other being Marcelo Gallardo).

Emilio started playing professional soccer at the age of 16 (1995). He played for XV de Piracicaba, a member of the state league of São Paulo. The next season he transferred to Rio Branco, another team in the state league of São Paulo.

In 1997, Emilio signed with FC Cologne of the German Bundesliga. He played for the Youth team and finally worked his way up to the senior team where he played for several matches. In 1999, Emilio transferred to Alemannia Aachen, a team in the second Division of the Bundesliga.

In 2001, Luciano Emilio made a return to Brazil to play for União Barbarense. After a brief stint at União Barbarense, Emilio made a move to the Honduran league to play for Real España. He quickly established himself as a key player and won the league scoring titles in 2003 and 2004. He helped lead Real España to the Apertura Championship in 2003. In 2004, Emilio made a move to another Honduran team, CD Olimpia. Emilio won another scoring title in the Apertura in 2004 with CD Olimpia.

Emilio started a brief stint in Mexico in 2005, signing the Mexican second division side Queretaro where he helped the team win the 2005 Clausura title, scoring 10 goals in the process. After playing for a short time with Querataro, Emilio made a return to CD Olimpia in 2005 in time to lead them to championships in the 2005 Apertura and the 2006 Clausura, during which he once again won the scoring title. In 2006, Emilio's eight goals in the UNCAF Tournament were enough to propel his team to the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' cup. Ironically enough, Emilio would go on to play against CD Olimpia in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup with his new club, D.C. United.

He signed with D.C. United January 16 as a Senior International player, after completing his second stint with Honduran club Olimpia. Emilio debuted for United in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup against Olimpia, scoring once in Tegucigalpa and twice in the return leg in Washington, DC in United's 7-3 aggregate win. He went on to score a fourth time in three games versus CD Guadalajara in the opening game of the CONCACAF semi-final.

At the end of his first season with D.C. United, his team received the 2007 MLS Supporters' Shield, the award for gaining the most points overall in a season. In the 2007 MLS season, Emilio had 20 goals and won the MLS Golden Boot award. Emilio won the 2007 MLS MVP award on November 14, 2007.

After recovering from a lean start to the 2008 season, Emilio scored his first career MLS hat-trick on June 14th against Red Bull New York.

ee also

*List of current MLS players

External links

* [http://lucigol.com/ Lucigol.com Luciano Emilio's Offical Site]

* [http://dcunited.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?team=t103&player=emilio_l&playerId=emi385627&statType=current Luciano Emilio's profile at D.C. United's official site]

* [http://lucianoemilio.com/ LucianoEmilio.com]

Persondata
NAME=Emilio, Luciano
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Professional soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH=December 12, 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH=Ilha Solteira, Brazil
DATE OF DEATH=6/8/08
PLACE OF DEATH=