Juventus midfielder Emerson said he would not have scored the winning goal against Germany’s Werder Bremen in Tuesday’s Champions League tie had his team mate Fabio Cannavaro not alerted him.
With the score at 1-1 on the night and Werder heading for the next round with a 4-3 aggregate win, German keeper Tim Wiese spilled a harmless cross which fell towards Emerson who was walking away from the penalty area.
“It was Fabio that alerted me, he shouted `Puma’, `Puma’ and I just drove it in,” said Emerson, referring to his nickname.
“It was luck but luck that we deserved,” added the Brazilian.
“We had about 10 shots on goal. We didn’t play badly though we were certainly scared after we went behind but once again we have shown we are a team that never gives up.”
Trailing 3-2 from the first leg, Juve fell further behind in the 13th minute when Johan Micoud scored for Werder.
David Trezeguet brought Juve level on the night midway through the second half, but, despite exerting plenty of pressure late on, the Italian champions never looked like breaching the Werder Bremen defence.
“We deserved the win even if it did come from a mistake by their keeper. He had an incredible night, we created plenty of chances but he just pulled off one great save after another,” said Juve coach Fabio Capello.
Werder coach Thomas Schaaf said his team had rallied around a despondent Wiese.
“It’s difficult for a coach to talk to players after something like that when they are so sad and disappointed,” he said.
“But his team mates gave him plenty of support and reminded him that he had been so good throughout the game.
Wiese, though, was inconsolable after his late blunder.
“It was horrible,” Wiese told his club’s website. “I wanted to bury myself in the ground. That’s by far the worst sporting moment I’ve ever experienced.”
“I was not excited at all. I was treating it like any other match and it was going really well.
“I had the feeling I could save everything. It was one of my best games and then that happened.
“That’s the kind of mistake you make once in your life.”
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