Hulk and Pedro Emanuel reunite as Vasco face Fluminense in Copa do Brasil | OneFootball

Saturday’s Copa do Brasil last 16 tie between Vasco and Fluminense reunites Fluminense striker Hulk with Vasco head coach Pedro Emanuel, former Porto team-mates in 2008 to 2009.

Arriving from Japanese football with star status, Hulk overlapped only with the final season of Pedro Emanuel’s playing career. The Portuguese defender retired at 33, and the pair played together in 12 matches.

"I remember that when I arrived at Porto, Pedro was already at the end of his career. He and Nuno Espírito Santo, who is also a coach. We used to talk a lot in the sauna, and they were already making those plans. We already imagined Pedro would become a manager," he told ge.

"He is very intelligent, very intelligent, very wise. I wish him luck, just not against us. I hope we can go through."

"When I saw him let fly in the first training sessions, I started to look and thought, 'What is this? How did we not discover this?' Right then I knew he would be a protagonist. And he was," he told Resenha ESPN in 2024.

The tie kicks off at 17:30 Brasília time at the Maracanã, with a quarter-final place on the line.

Source: Globo.com