He fell out of football after drinking alcohol: Who is Adriano Leite Ribeiro?

According to Philip Veldhuis, the founder of the project called "Favela Street", children in favelas have only one choice: They will either join the drug network or play football. Fortunately, football is played a lot in the favelas.

This is really true!

Favelas have produced many famous football saints such as Zico and Romario. By 1982, a new one seemed to be added to them.

A CAREER THAT STARTED FROM FAVELA: ADRIANO

On February 17, a child named Adriano Leite Ribeiro, born to Rosilda Ribeiro and to Almir Ribeiro, was born in one of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. This boy, known as 'Popcorn', who played football barefoot almost everywhere he found it, was not known as 'Tank' or 'Emperor' in those years. His friends gave him the humble nickname of those days.

Adriano Leite Ribeiro (born 17 February 1982), commonly known simply as Adriano, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. He played as a striker and was known for his long-range left-footed strikes.

His grandmother was selling street food on a mobile basis. Among these was popcorn. Almost every time his grandson played a match, he would come to the side of the field with his popcorn. This is where he got his nickname. The money earned by his grandmother was mostly spent at the beginning of Adriano's football career. On the other hand, his father Almir was trying to help his son save himself and his family.

Adriano later quoted his father as saying, "Son, I cannot give you expensive gifts, but I can give you football" and gave all his savings to his son to play football. What is the sacrifice made by this man, who does not have much as the head of a poor family, for football and his son's talents, if not a prediction that he can save his son's life?

Adriano, the child of a poor family, had only football, and football was not useless against him. As a favela kid, what he wanted from his savior, namely football, was to be rich and drive luxury cars.

Adriano started his career - if we don't count the streets and the team called "Ordem e Progresso" - in 1999 in the Flamengo infrastructure. This man, who was famous for his huge size and strength, started his career as a left-back back then. Fortunately, he was soon noticed by sensible people and, thanks to his magnificent left foot, he moved to his main position, that is, the center-forward, where he would wear the imperial crown.

Adriano found his savior, football.

In 2000, he signed a 2-year professional contract with his club Flamengo. Soon, in 2001, he set out for Europe. He was 20 years old when Inter Milan, one of the heavyweights of Seria A, paid 13.19 million euros for him.

He was loaned to Fiorentina during the 2001/2002 season. The following season, he was transferred to Parma for 14.50 million euros. After proving his maturity by playing a total of 46 matches in various tournaments and scoring 26 goals in the last one-and-a-half seasons in Parma, he returned to Inter Milan in January 2004 for 24.50 million euros. While Brazil lifted the cup in the 2004 Copa America held in Peru, Adriano was awarded the Golden Shoe. He would receive the same award again in the 2015 Confederation Cup.

His first-season performance at Inter Milan was legendary and was enough for the fans to label him as the new “Phenomenon” as the successor to Ronaldo de Lima (El Fenomeno). But this label would soon be ripped from his proud collar.

THE WORD IDENTIFIED WITH ADRIANO: FALL

Yes! Adriano continued to score goals. However, he was going through a deep depression. That's when he met a new savior: Alcohol!

Day by day, he fell out with his former savior, football. His performance dropped season by season. But he had such a great talent...

16 goals in 30 matches with Inter Milan in Seria A in the 2004/05 season; 13 goals and 1 assist in 30 matches in the 2005/06 season; 5 goals and 11 assists in 25 matches in the 2006/07 season; 1 goal in 6 matches in the 2007/08 season; He played with statistics such as 3 goals and 3 assists in 16 matches in the 2008/09 season.

Inter Milan always tried to win him over with his innate talents. In 2009, Jose Mourinho, who was the coach of Inter Milan, was among those who gave him a chance.

RETURN TO HOMELAND

Ultimately, Adriano's relationship with Inter Milan ended in 2009. However, the hope that he could return to football again, even if it was a false hope, was tantalizing. He was truly a football player of 'maybes', 'wishes', and 'I wonder' with his gifted virtues.

That's how he returned to his country, to Flamengo, the club where everything started. Due to his unreliable nature, his club offered him a 1-year contract. This year, Adriano shared inspirations from his old days, when football was his savior. This performance opened the doors of 'Çizme' for him again. Italy's capital team, Roma, was ready to give him a chance. He gave it too.

The Flamengo performance had to be an illusion. A false ray of hope... Adriano, who could only play in 5 matches in 7 months in his new team, broke off relations with Roma within 9 months.

He returned to his country in March 2011. This time he signed a 1-year contract with Corinthians Club. He was soon injured with a ruptured Achilles tendon and spent 6 months of his contract recovering. He came back from this injury, but was it really a comeback? In fact, he had lost the last of his interest in football. After that, he could not hold on for more than a year in any club he went to. And in 2016, at the age of 34, he ended his active football life.

However, that false light of hope never went out. When we came to the summer of 2018, on the eve of the 2018 World Cup, there were still people who thought that Adriano could still be there. Flamengo's president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, in an interview with Fox Sports, said that he made an offer to Adriano but he rejected the offer: "He will be 36 years old in the 2018 World Cup. But he's still better than everyone else. Plus, Flamengo needs an idol. But he did not accept our offer,” he explained.

Adriano returned to his neighborhood, the favelas.

Nowadays, those who say that he is stuck in debt after partying until the morning, in nightclubs, alcohol and drug binges, also say that he lives under the protection of a local gang, Comando Vermelho (The Red Command).

On the other hand, those who claim that the issue of debt and impoverishment are exaggerations say that he drives around in cars worth 126 thousand dollars, that he still parties, and that he does these parties in expensive, fashionable venues that cost tens of thousands of dollars a night. For example, his birthday party in 2017 cost him 95 thousand dollars. According to him, his million-dollar private jets were not actually luxurious.