We had lost track of him in recent years. The one we nicknamed in the time of his splendor, the Emperor (the emperor), has resurfaced. Unfortunately not for the best reasons. For several weeks, videos published on social networks, on X in particular, make people talk about him. We see former Brazilian footballer Adriano completely drunk hanging out in a favela, in an almost daze.
Retired from the field since 2016, the former glory of Inter Milan and the auriverde section – 27 goals in 48 matches with Brazil – returned to the country after his career and now lives in the Vila Cruzeiro favela in Rio de Janeiro , the one where he grew up. A very dangerous neighborhood where drug trafficking is rampant, and police raids are frequent. In May 2022, more than twenty people were killed during one of them.
In a long testimony, published this Tuesday, November 12 on the site The Player’s Tribune the 42-year-old man recounts his descent into hell and confides in his problem with alcohol. “ I’m the biggest mess in footballsays Adriano straight away. I like this word, gâchis. Not only because of how it sounds, but also because I’m obsessed with wasting my life. I’m fine like that, in 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. »
As poignant as ever, he continues his testimony: “ I drink every day. How does someone 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 gone into debt. And it’s even worse at my age. »
“I had a bottle of vodka […] I drank all this shit alone”
He also talks about his first experience with alcohol: “I remember the first time my father surprised me with a drink in my hand […] At the time, I didn’t drink. But when I saw all these young people… […] I took a plastic cup and filled it with beer. This fine and bitter foam which went down my throat for the first time had a particular flavor. A new world of pleasure opened up to me. My mother was at the party and saw the scene. She didn’t say anything. My father…”
Once the glass was seen, it flew across the field at high speed. He got angry. Her aunts and mother tried to calm things down. « But there was no conversation. The old man has gone mad. He snatched the cup from my hands and threw it in the gutter.” continues the Brazilian.
But the death of his father, shot in the head when he was 10, changed his life forever. “Even today, it’s a problem that I still haven’t been able to overcome”summarizes the former Flamengo striker, for whom this death is partly responsible for his tragic destiny.
The impossibility of mourning the loss of his father to which is added the difficulty of leaving his family to join Europe and AC Milan. A sometimes complicated exile that the player experienced badly. He recalls a Christmas spent alone far from his family: “ I was broken. I had a bottle of vodka. I drank alone. I filled my belly with vodka. I cried all night. I passed out on the couch because I drank so much and cried. What could I do? I was in Milan for a reason. It was what I had dreamed of my whole life. »
Before finally giving in to the call of the country and returning to Brazil. “When I fled Inter and left Italy, I came to hide here, relate Adriano. I walked around the neighborhood for three days. Nobody found me. There is no way to do it. Rule number one of the favela: keep quiet. I needed freedom. I wanted peace. I wanted to live. I wanted to become human again. »
