“I played with great champions. I played with players that were already…wow. I played with players that I saw were a talent and became…wow, but the one I felt could do it longer, and he didn’t do it, was Adriano when I was at Inter. He could shoot from every angle, nobody could tackle him, nobody could take the ball, he was a pure animal.”
— Zlatan Ibrahimović
“When I arrived at inter I knew that I would play with exceptional players. However there was one who showed that he was better than everyone else every time he walked out on the pitch, he always knew how to make the difference, he was different to everyone else. It was Adriano, Imperatore. Extremely good.” — Maicon speaking about Adriano
“Without meaning to insult any other player in the Italian league, I think one player stands out,”
“Inter’s striker Adriano has attracted our attention more than anyone else.” — Florentino Perez
“He’s one of the best strikers around now and what’s amazing is that he can get a lot better still” — Pele
Teammates at Inter would call Adriano a mixture between
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo. On the Brazil National national Team, Adriano was the successor of Ronaldo.
His Career did not last too long but the level he had attained at the age of 22 was just phenomenal.
Adriano wasn’t a just a Strong muscular guy who excelled due to his physical prowess but had some delicate touches, Skill moves to beat the best defenders and the shot power of a Raging Bull. He was Zlatan before Zlatan. Zlatan himself said that the first thing he said when he joined Inter in 2006 was to “demand” Adriano stayed.
In a match against Porto, where he scored the Hattrick, he was flexing as if playing against a bunch of 11-year-olds. A header against Bologna when he was being tightly marked by two defenders but managed to steal the goal. Another versus Perugia when he spun 360 degrees, putting one defender to sleep as if he’d just tripped over a dog lead, before going past another with the sweetest of stepovers and then clipping the most delicate finish over a keeper who had narrowed the angle perfectly, but also pointlessly.
Even the times he didn’t score he tended to produce something extraordinary: one particular long shot against Palermo when he hit the ball from 30 yards out so cleanly that it hit the crossbar and almost rebounded straight back to him. That one was clocked at 90 miles per hour. The goalkeeper didn’t bother moving
He was equally magnificent for the National team, having made his debut at the age of 18. Adriano led a Ronaldo-less Brazil to the 2004 Copa América Title, receiving the Golden Boot as the competition’s leading scorer with seven goals. He also won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup with Brazil, receiving the Golden Boot Award as the competition’s leading scorer with five goals.
Due to his dominance, power, and skill, he was given the nickname L’Imperatore (“The Emperor”) during his time in Italy. Adriano’s Style of Play drew him comparison compatriot Ronaldo, and he was even initially regarded as his potential successor.
Adriano played like a god, possessing the rare and unstoppable combination of pace, footwork, Super strength, and Finesse.
However, the fireworks were shortlived.
Decline
The beginning of the end of Adriano began in 2004 when his father passed away. And what followed was the slow but inevitable decline.
“He got a phone call from Brazil ‘Adri, dad is dead”. “I saw him in his room, he threw the phone and started screaming. You couldn’t imagine that kind of scream. Since that day Moratti (Inter chairman) and myself watched over him as he was our little brother. He kept playing football, scoring goals and pointing to the sky dedicating them to his father. After that phone call, nothing was the same. Iván Córdoba (Inter teammate) spent one night with him and said ‘Adri, you’re a mix of Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović. Are you aware you could become the best player ever?’ We did not succeed of pulling him out of depression.
— Javier Zanetti, Inter Milan teammate, and club captain, on the impact on Adriano of the death of his father in 2004.
After this, things went downhill. Adriano struggled to come to terms with the death of his father and this affected his performance. His work ethic and dedication to the team also came under scrutiny. Two times during the 2006–07 season, he was caught partying at nightclubs. Brazilian coach Dunga dropped him from the brazil squad and asked him to “change his behavior” and “focus on football”. On 18 February 2007, Adriano skipped a team practice due to effects from a lengthy celebration of his birthday the night before. He was also in a very poor Physical condition.
This prompted the Inter Owner Massimo Moratti to send Adriano on unpaid leave to São Paulo’s training center.
Things did not change much at Sao Paulo, with Adriano missing Practise due to late-night partying and was also involved in a headbutt attack on a Santos defender. Eventually, Adriano was sent back to Inter with Sao Paulo saying that they do not require his services anymore.
Then finally in December 2008, he was released by Inter.
He continued to play in Brazil, came back to Italy to play for Roma on loan but by now he was not even the shadow of his former self.
His career lasted into his 30s but his peak had come and gone by 25.
The decline of Adriano could be marked from the death of his father in 2004, the loss, and the subsequent lack of purpose derailing what could have been one of the great careers.
Even without the grief, the problems with alcohol and the psychological issues that the grief would exacerbate, that sort of brilliance only lasts once in a generation. We wanted more, but perhaps it’s enough that we got any of it at all.
Author: Hamzah Mattoo has been following football religiously ever since the FIFA world cup 2006, when he was 7 years old and now after missing the chance to make a career in football, has decided to contribute through his words.
Creative Writer at Headkick.co
