Football: Family tree

Branco left, Juninho left and now Emerson has gone too. But the samba rhythms have not quite been silenced at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium.

Still under contract - and still turning out for Bryan Robson's reserve team - is Fabio Moreiro, a startling Emerson lookalike and cousin of the controversial midfielder, whose final disappearing act at Christmas preceded the long-delayed completion of his move to Tenerife.

How long Fabio stays remains open to question. Middlesbrough handed him an 18-month deal at the beginning of last year, but his career and Emerson's have rarely taken them too far apart and the breaking up of Teesside's Brazilian enclave leaves the 25-year-old somewhat isolated.

The pair - only a month apart in age - grew up in the same neighbourhood in Rio and attended the same school. Both began their careers with Flamengo and left at a young age for Portugal, where Emerson joined Porto and Fabio linked up with Chaves.

The remote town of Chaves is some distance from Porto, but that did not stop the two cousins seeing one another on a regular basis.

Indeed, it was to help smooth Emerson's integration into Riverside life that Fabio arrived in the first place. Apart from their own friendship, they are related through marriage, Emerson having wed Andrea, whose sister, Adriana, is Fabio's wife.