Former center forward for Inter Milan and the Brazilian selection, Adriano, now 42, left Europe and the world of football to return to the favela of his childhood, and spend his days drinking there. A descent into hell that he recounts in a column.
The sincere words of a fallen “emperor”, of a former idol who has lost his splendor and who is fighting against his own demons. Retired from the field since 2016, and since disappeared from the media radar, the former Brazilian striker Adriano has been talked about again in recent days, with the publication on social networks of several videos filmed in a Brazilian favela, on which the ex- Inter Milan’s serial scorer appears in a daze. Enough to bring out multiple theories. Has Adriano gone crazy? Addict?
In a long text written in the first person, and published this Tuesday, November 12 on the site “The Player’s Tribune”, the man with 48 selections with the Seleçao explains to us that no. But he must face an equally dramatic problem: his alcoholism.
“I drink because it is not easy to be a promise who has become in debt”
“I am the biggest waste in football,” says the “Imperador”. “I love that word, ‘waste’. Not only because of the sound of it, but also because I’m obsessed with wasting my life. I’m fine with that, frenzied waste. I like this stigma. I don’t do drugs, like they try to say. I’m not a criminal, although I could have been. I don’t like nightclubs. I always hang out at the same place in my neighborhood, Naná’s kiosk. If you want to meet me, come see me there.”
And Adriano puts his foot down: “I drink every day. How does a person like me end up drinking almost every day? I don’t like giving explanations to others. But here’s one : I drink because it’s not easy to be a promise who has become in debt. And it’s even worse at my age.”
Now 42, the four-time Serie A champion says he spends his days hanging out in his favela of Vila Cruzeiro, in Rio de Janeiro. He remakes the world there, playing cards, dancing, and therefore drinking. A lot. An addiction which, according to him, has accompanied his existence for a long time.
“I remember the first time my dad surprised me with a drink in my hand. I was 14 and everyone in our community was partying. (…) At the time, I didn’t drink. But when I saw all these young people… (…) I took a plastic cup and I filled it with beer. This fine, bitter foam was coming down for me. first time in my throat had a special flavor A new world of. ‘pleasure’ was opening up to me. My mother was at the party and saw the scene. My father didn’t say anything.
And Adriano continued: “When he saw me with the glass in my hand, he crossed the field at the speed of someone who cannot afford to miss the bus. ‘Stop there,’ said- he shouted. I said, ‘Oh, man!’ My aunts and my mother quickly understood and tried to calm things down before the situation got worse. ‘Come on, Mirinho (his father, Editor’s note), he’s with his friends, he’s not going to do anything. He’s just there laughing, having fun, leave him alone, Adriano is growing up too’, my mother said. But there was no conversation. The old man went crazy. the cup in his hands and thrown into the gutter. ‘I didn’t teach you that, my son,’ he said.”
“I took a bottle of vodka, I drank all this shit by myself”
But the former international explains that his father – who was also shot in the head when Adriano was 10 – could not be behind him at all times. And that his death, a few years later, changed his life “forever”. “Even today, it’s a problem that I still haven’t managed to overcome,” agrees the ex-star of the pitch, who seems to make this disappearance a driving force behind his descent into hell.
Just like having to leave his family to go into exile in Europe during his playing career. Recalling his years in Italy, the Brazilian recounts a Christmas where he felt particularly alone: ”I was broken. I had a bottle of vodka. I’m not exaggerating, brother. I drank all that shit all alone. I filled my belly with vodka. I cried all night. I passed out on the couch because I drank so much. What could I do? Was in Milan for a reason. It was what I had dreamed of all my life. God gave me the opportunity to become a football player in Europe. My family’s life has improved a lot because of my Lord and all that he has done. he did for me. And my family did a lot too. It was a small price to pay, compared to what was happening and what was still going to happen. But I didn’t understand it. didn’t stop me from being sad.”
Until the day when the call of the country was too strong. “When I ‘fleed’ Inter and left Italy, I came to hide here,” Adriano says. “I walked around the neighborhood for three days. No one found me. There’s no way to do it. Rule number one of the favela: keep quiet. Do you think anyone would report me? They don’t There are no rats here, my brother. The Italian press went crazy. The police in Rio even carried out an operation to ‘rescue’ me. like it or not, I needed of freedom. I couldn’t stand having to always keep an eye on the cameras when I went out in Italy (…) When I’m here, no one from the outside knows what I’m doing. why I went to the favela. It wasn’t for alcohol, nor for women, even less for drugs. It was because I wanted peace. I wanted to be human again. Just a little. truth.”
