Adriano Leite Ribeiro Adriano Leite Ribeiro, or simply,
Adriano as he’s commonly known by, was born and raised in Vila Cruzeiro.
It’s one of the poorest favelas in Rio De Janeiro. Rio is divided into two halves.
Most people are familiar with the first half: white Sandy beaches,
blue waves, the towering resorts overlooking them, and the green mountains in the background.
But behind the fancy resorts, the sand, and the waves, are the favelas, the shanty towns
masked by the resort city. Around 19% of Rio's population lives in these areas, up 12% from 1950.
Through those 7 decades, the rich got richer, and the poor got poorer, forcing millions of urban
Brazilians to move up into the mountains and into the favelas. To many, the favelas symbolize income
inequality in Rio. In other words, they're not something Rio is keen on showing off.
Favela Life During the 2016
Summer Olympic Games, local officials had walls built around some of the favelas,
so athletes, visiting spectators, and, most importantly, TV cameras couldn't
see the other side of Rio—the side made of rusty sheet metal and dirt.
Favelas are places people aspire to escape from. They're riddled with crime and run by gangs and
cartels, who often wage war on each other, turning the streets into dangerous warzones.
Why did Adriano return home after becoming a wealthy soccer star?
Next Ronaldo Adriano started
playing soccer when he was eleven years old. He spent most of his time playing at youth leagues,
and his primary team was the Flamengos. The Flamengo coaches initially used
Adriano's large stature to start in defensive positions, specifically, a left-side defender.
But after a few practices, the coaches saw Adriano's true talent: scoring goals. Typically,
central strikers are smaller players known for their quickness and ball-handling ability.
On the other hand, Ribeiro was a big kid with the sturdy build of a defender. Nevertheless,
no one could argue with his results.
Adriano dominated his youth league. Eventually,
he worked his way up to a senior club and played professionally.
Though Adriano didn't start his first pro game, his coaches liked how he played. They started
Adriano in the next match, where he scored his first goal against a team from San Paulo.
Adriano kept scoring more and more goals until he earned a prophetic title: the next Ronaldo.
No, not Christiano Ronaldo, but Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima,
another Brazilian soccer star. Like Adriano, he was born and raised in Rio. He utilized a
creative style to score goals, eventually landing him a spot on the Brazilian National team.
Adriano followed in his predecessor's footsteps and joined the National team in 2000,
just a year after his debut in the senior league in 1999.
The Emperor Adriano was just
18 when he debuted for his country's soccer team,
Around that time, the teenage phenom also signed his first contract with the Flamengos.
Adriano agreed to play for two years in exchange for over $10 million. The boy from the favelas was
about to become a millionaire as the leader of a professional soccer club, every young boy's dream.
Two men helped Adriano handle this new pile of responsibility: the soccer star he was supposed
to replace, Ronaldo, and Adriano's father. Ronaldo had a similar playing style. He was
more than willing to help the young upstart whenever they played for Brazil together.
He taught Adriano about the game,
how to be a professional, and what it takes to be a superstar. Adriano enjoyed the nightlife,
but Ronaldo helped him focus on the game instead of booze and beautiful women.
However, Adriano's father helped his son differently. If Ronaldo was the mentor,
then Adriano's father was the emotional glue that held his ambition together. Adriano loved soccer,
and he loved money. But the one thing he cared about most was making his dad proud.
Adriano would often forgo drunk nights at the club for long hard soccer practices in the morning. He
wanted to be in tip-top shape and continue leading his teams in scoring. Thanks to his
dad's influence, and Ronaldo's guidance, Adriano became one of the best players in the world.
After Adriano played two years with the Flamengos,
he joined Italy's Inter Milan soccer club. They bought Adriano's $10 million contract
in exchange for another player. But they got what they wanted: a superstar.
During his years in Italy, people called him The Emperor,
the nickname given to young Adriano when he started scoring in nearly every
match he played. The famous Roman Emperor Hadrian inspired the name.
Unfortunately for Inter Milan, their newly acquired star would leave for a brief time,
playing on loan for another Italian team and sharing his time between the two
before going back to Milan in 2004.
After being passed around like a bag of chips for the next few years,
Adriano wanted stability. On the other side of the table, Inter Milan watched their
former striker score 21 goals in 37 games with the Parma soccer club. They wanted him back.
And, like a jealous ex, Inter gave Adriano a four and a half year $26 million deal to come back
to Milan. The four-year period began in 2004, which was arguably the best year
of Adriano's life and career. But also the worst.
Sudden Passing Adriano scored dozens
of goals throughout 2004. FIFA ranked him as the 6th best player on the planet. He played
particularly well for Brazil, and he led them to victory in the Copa America, winning them the cup.
Adriano also took home the golden boot award for being the best scorer with 7 goals.
But Adriano wasn't alone. He was the spearhead of the "Magic Quartet'' that dominated International
soccer during the early 2000s. Next to Adriano was his mentor, Ronaldo, Richardo Kaka, and Ronaldinho
Gaúcho. They led Brazil to several victories but failed to secure the World Cup title in 2006.
The quartet all presumed Adriano would surpass them one day. After all,
he was only in his fourth year and already scoring more goals than them at major cups.
With a new contract, a Golden boot, and a decisive victory at Copa, it
certainly looked like Adriano would become one of the greatest scorers of all time,
maybe even lead his country to a World Cup one day.
Sadly, heartbreaking news destroyed that future on August 4th, 2004.
While Adriano prepared for a match against a Swiss team in a UEFA qualifier, his father passed away
from a sudden illness. After the tragedy, someone from Brazil called Adriano to give him the news.
In July, just a couple of months before getting the phone call,
Adriano had scored a game-winning goal to win the Copa America final. After the match,
Adriano gave a heartfelt speech to the media. He spoke into the mics and
said the Copa belonged to his father and that without his father, he was nothing.
Adriano's teammates remember how much he loved his father. And they remember
how he reacted when he heard four very upsetting words, "Adi, dad is dead."
One of his teammates recalls being with Adriano in his hotel room the second
after hearing those words. He says Adriano said nothing, then a moment later threw the
phone and started screaming at the top of his lungs. The sound gave the teammate goosebumps.
Another teammate came by, and together they watched over Adriano as if he was their little
brother. On the field, Adriano seemed to be playing well. He continued appearing
on sports news highlight reels, which showed Adriano scoring goals like usual,
except his celebrations were different now.
Instead of running around and throwing his arms up in the air, Adriano jogged along,
looked up, and pointed two fingers towards the sky, or the heavens, in this case.
The celebration signaled that Adriano was honoring his father by playing great soccer.
But Adriano's teammates knew the truth about soccer's emperor: Adriano was not okay.
Heartache Medication Adriano spent most of his time between two cities
from 2004 to 2009: Milan, Italy, and Rio, Brazil. Both metros have a thriving nightclub scene,
especially Rio. When Adriano wasn't practicing or playing, he could be found at a bar, nightclub,
or a party drinking copious amounts of alcohol. His favorite beverage was beer.
But thanks to the alcohol, Adriano stayed lively and avoided depression. Unfortunately, almost
every medication has a side effect. In Adriano's case,
the side effects were a one-two punch of brutal hangovers and falling out of shape.
Adriano later admitted that he would party until 3 or 4 in the morning and stay up
until it was time for practice, still drunk. Most other mornings, he was just hungover.
Excessive drinking led to the loss of fitness. Adriano slugged along in
practices and workouts. There were times when his coaches forced him to leave and get some rest,
leading to Adriano gaining weight and losing strength, cardio, and power in the process.
Financially, Adriano burnt through money,
spending almost 20,000 per night on women he’d meet at the clubs.
Spiraling In 2009, after five successful years,
Inter Milan parted ways with Adriano. Seven years later, Adriano retired from professional
soccer. His days playing for Brazil's National team were even shorter. You have
to be the best of the best to play soccer for Brazil, and Adriano couldn't keep up.
Adriano returned to his first club team, the Flamengos, in 2009. He left for two years,
each with a different club, and eventually signed with Flamengo again in 2012.
From 2012 to 2016, Adriano played three years and missed two. And after 2016,
Adriano never saw another contract offer. Adriano's deteriorating physical fitness had a lot
to do with the soccer world denouncing the former golden boot winner, but it wasn't the only reason.
Local officials accused Adriano of trafficking in
2014. There was also speculation that he participated in gang-related crimes.
Adriano has been associated with the notorious favela gang known as Red Command. He was seen
posing with Red members while holding weapons and flashing the Command gang sign. Not a good look.
Red Command is responsible for plenty of unsavory things in the Rio favelas.
Having even a loose association with the gang is cause enough for suspicion. However,
Adriano has never been convicted of a gang-related crime. The trafficking
charges never held up due to lack of evidence, and Adriano was free to go.
Adriano Today Adriano constantly
finds himself in the news, despite retiring years ago. Some sports fans and writers
speculate about the ex-emperor trying to reconquer the professional soccer fields.
However, it would take months on weight loss and training for Adriano to even
get a tryout. And he hasn't shown any interest in playing professionally.
Others speculate on Adriano's affiliation with Red
Command and whether or not he's involved in criminal activity.
While everyone around Brazil and the international soccer world talk about Adriano,
the man everyone thought would be the next Ronaldo rides scooters down steep windy favela roads,
hangs out with old friends, and hands out McDonald's cheeseburgers to kids on the street.
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