Thursday, November 14

Adriano, the “Emperor” of football who exchanged his kingdom for life in the favela

Not everything that glitters is gold and while one might think that football stars allow themselves to be enveloped by the tinsel of a life full of fame, luxuries and excesses, for Brazilian star Adriano Leites It drew more attention to the life of the people, the kind that in Brazil is lived in the harsh reality of the favelas.

The above arises from a story that could be similar to many others that have tried to draw the misunderstood life of the Brazilian star with a career at Flamengo, Inter Milan. Fiorentina, Parma, San Pablo, Roma, Corinthians, Atlético Paranaense and Miami United, but which acquires greater relevance because is a description of the Brazilian published with heartbreaking overtones on The Players Tribune portal.

Precisely on these pages, the famous striker of the Brazilian national team recounts the metamorphosis he suffered from his humble cradle to achieving fame for his football ability that led him to savor the honeys of fame and being recognized as the “Emperor“, to return to the life of the favelas where he is currently living his best days away from the catwalks and the pressure of being a public figure.

The alcoholism that has followed him since he was 14 years old

In his heartbreaking account of his life, the gunner who amazed the world footballer due to his power and skill, he had no hesitation in writing the way he has dealt with the alcoholism that has followed him since he was 14 years old and where the death of his father had a lot to do with it.

“I was 14 years old and in our community we were all celebrating. There were many people, that joy that took over everything. Samba, people coming and going. At that time, I was not a drinker. But when I saw all the guys doing their thing, laughing, I said ‘aaaahhhh’. There was no way. I took a plastic cup and filled it with beer.. That bitter and fine foam that went down my throat for the first time had a special flavor. A new world of ‘fun’ opened up to me. My mother was at the party and saw the scene. She stayed quiet, didn’t she? My father… Shit.”

He could never get over his father’s death.

The reality is that a great explanation for the Brazilian star’s decisions in the Scracht du Oro was due from the death of his father from a stray bullet in Cruzeiro that changed the lives of his entire family.

“Damn, my dad got shot in the head at a party in Cruzeiro. A stray bullet. It had nothing to do with the disaster. The bullet entered through his forehead and lodged in the back of his head. The doctors had no way to get her out.”

“After that, my family’s life was never the same. My father started having frequent seizures. My father’s death changed my life forever. To this day, it is a problem that I have not yet been able to solve. “It all started here, in the community that matters so much to me.”

Have you ever seen a person having an epileptic seizure in front of you? You don’t want to see it, brother.

It’s scary.

“I was 10 years old when my father was shot. I grew up living with their crises. Mirinho was never able to work again. The responsibility of running the house fell entirely on my mother. And what did she do? He faced her. He had the help of our neighbors. Our family was also there to help. Here everyone lives with little. Nobody has more than anyone else. And yet, my mother was not alone. “There was always someone who gave him a hand.”

In this topic Adriano explained that: “All the lessons I learned from my father were like that, in gestures. We didn’t have deep conversations. The old man was not one for philosophizing or giving moral lessons, no. His everyday righteousness and the respect that others had for him was what impressed me the most.”

Never adapted to Europe

The common and simple life of the favelas, full of bustle, color, of people going here and therewho lends his hand, which is known everywhere, was a hard blow when he emigrated to pursue fame in Europe, where everything was different, everything cold, empty streets and indifferent people.

“Do you see the movement of people around here? And the noise? Damn, the favela is very different. We opened the door and immediately met our neighbor. You set foot and there is the owner of the shop on the street, the aunt selling cakes with a bag in her hand, the barber’s cousin calling you to play soccer. Everyone knows each other. Of course, one house next to another, right? “

“That was one of the things that surprised me the most when I moved to Europe. The streets are silent. People don’t greet each other. Everyone is kept separate. The first Christmas I spent in Milan was hard for me, man.”

“The end of the year is a very important time for my family. We all get together. It has always been like this. 9th Street was full because Mirinho was the man, No? The tradition began there. On New Year’s Eve it was also the favela that gathered outside my house,” the Brazilian highlighted, comparing and longing for this type of life.

For that reason he had no qualms when pointing out that: “When I went to Inter, I felt a very strong blow in the first winter. Christmas came and I was left alone in my apartment. It’s freezing cold in Milan. That depression that hits during the freezing months in northern Italy. Everyone in dark clothes. The deserted streets. The days are very short. The weather is humid. I didn’t feel like doing anything, man. All that combined with nostalgia and I felt like shit.”

Italy's AS Roma's soccer player Adriano, of Brazil, top, is surrounded by children during the inauguration of community center Imperadores da Vila in the Vila Cruzeiro slum, his boyhood home, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday Dec. 22, 2010. The center, funded by Adriano, is located in one of the slums raided by Brazilian police after five days of drug gang violence in November. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Adriano and the place where he feels recognized and happy, with his people, with his world, away from the football tinsel that led him to be considered “The Emperor.”
Credit: Felipe Dana | AP

Precisely in his lowest hours, he highlighted the great support of the Dutchman Clarence Seedorf: “Still, Seedorf was a great friend. He and his wife prepared dinner for their loved ones on Christmas Eve and invited me. Wow, this brother has a great level. Imagine the Christmas reception at your house. An elegance that has to do with it. “Everything was very nice and delicious, but the truth is that I wanted to be in Rio de Janeiro.”

“I didn’t even spend much time with them. I apologized, said my quick goodbyes, and headed back to my apartment. I called home. “Hello, mom. Merry Christmas,” I said. “My son! I miss you. Merry christmas. “Everyone is here, the only one missing is you,” he responded.

I change luxuries for the favelas

In the recounting of details that he made in his own handwriting, the former figure who emerged from Flamengo and who later impressed in the big Italian teams, also revealed the reasons that led him to banish the luxuries that a salary of more than seven million dollars provided him to live and do whatever he wanted in the favelas.

“When I “escaped” from Inter and left Italy, I came to hide here. I spent three days touring the entire complex. Nobody found me. There is no way. Favela rule number one: keep your mouth shut. Do you think someone would rat me out? There are no rats here, brother. The Italian press went crazy. The Rio police even carried out an operation to “rescue” me. They said they had kidnapped me. You’re kidding, right? Imagine that someone is going to do some harm to me here… to me, a child from the favela.”

“Everyone destroyed me”

“Whether I liked it or not, I needed freedom. I couldn’t stand having to always be aware of the cameras every time I went out to Italy.anyone who crossed my path, whether it was a journalist, a scammer, a scammer or any other son of a bitch,” said Adriano, tired of the weight of fame.P

To give more emphasis to his story, he established that: “In my community we don’t have that. When I’m here, no one outside knows what I’m doing. That was his problem. They didn’t understand why I was going to the favela. It wasn’t because of the drink, nor because of the women, much less because of the drugs. It was for freedom. It was because he wanted peace. I wanted to live. I wanted to be human again. Even if it was just a little bit. That’s the damn truth. And?”.

Mourinho, Mancini and Moratti did not understand it

Finally, he makes a recrimination against those who never understood him, like the Portuguese José Mourinho, the Italians Roberto Mancini and Massimo Moratti.

“I tried to do what they wanted. I negotiated with Roberto Mancini. I tried a lot with José Mourinho. I cried on Moratti’s shoulder. But I couldn’t do what they asked me to do. I stayed well for a few weeks, avoided alcohol, trained like a horse, but there was always a relapse. Again and again. Everyone criticized me. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Inter Milan's Adriano of Brazil during an Italian major league soccer match against Atalanta at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2006. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
It is still not understood why the Brazilian Adriano rejected the life of luxury and fame during his time in Italian football like here with Inter Milan.
Credit: Luca Bruno | AP

“People said a lot of stupid things because everyone was embarrassed. “Wow, Adriano stopped earning seven million euros. Did he leave everything for this shit? That’s what I’ve heard the most. But they don’t know why I did it. I did it because I wasn’t feeling well. “I needed my space to do what I wanted to do,” he concluded.

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