Having managed to resist the temptation of riches from Chelsea and Real Madrid, the then 23 year old terrorised the Treviso defence with an emphatic hat-trick on the first day of the 2005/06 season in Serie A for Inter Milan. The following day he dominated the sports pages and was being dubbed to move on to greater heights. The Brazilians fortunes have some what changed of late and many sporting fans have disregarded him entirely. The man I speak about is of course Adriano, the forgotten 'emperor' of Brazilian football.
Now 30 and a free agent, it is hard to think of a player who has fallen as dramatically from such great heights. In his prime, many considered Adriano to be one of the finest centre forwards in the game, whose power and determination could be matched by few defenders. Yet, troubles off the field revolving around the death of his father and alcoholism led to his fall from grace.
After failing to impress in his first season in Milan, the Brazilian was provided with a life line when Parma decided to form an agreement to co-own the striker. Forming a formidable partnership with Adrian Mutu, Adriano went on to score 22 goals in 36 games for the Crusaders. This devastating form eventually led to Inter again paying for full ownership of the forward in 2004 in a deal reported to be as much as £21million. In his first season back at the Nerazzurri, he continued his impressive strike rate, finding the back of the net on 15 occasions in just 16 outings.
Boasting a lethal left foot capable of striking a ball with lethal power, the Brazilian became one of the most feared players of his generation. It was during this period where Adriano was most impressive and eventually led to being linked to transfers to Chelsea and Real Madrid. Yet, he decided to stay put in Italy and over the course of 12 months from July 2004, managed to score 40 goals in all competitions both domestically and internationally.
However, soon his fortunes were to change for the worse when in 2006 his father died prematurely. Adriano was unable to cope with the grief and turned to alcohol and was often spotted out at late night parties. In addition to this, his performances and interest of the game waned and so did his love affair with Inter.
After stints firstly in Brazil with Flamengo, then in Italy with Roma and back to his native with Corinthians, the once called 'emperor' has never managed to recapture his form and has suffered continuous problems regarding his weight. Now, after being released by Corinthians this month due to missing training on several occasions, the Brazilian isn't just searching for a new club, but also for a new lease of life.
Adriano's career is a reminder of how fickle fame can be and how it can destroy lives as well as making them. Had he been given the right support, who knows how far he could have gone. With the correct guidance maybe he could have been representing Brazil at the 2014 world cup in his homeland. Yet, unfortunately for the 30 year old it is unlikely a club will again show either trust or faith in him.
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