We finally got to hear from the man himself amid the turbulent life he’s lived, Adriano Leite finally opened up about his fall from grace in football.
Adriano Leite’s fall from grace in football is definitely amongst the saddest stories in recent memory that we can think of. In previous years, we heard Javier Zanetti himself talking about the heartbreaking moment he got the news of his father’s passing. Although we never heard the story told from his own lips, the time finally came. It all happened right after the Brazilian star touched the stars during the Copa America in 2004.
He was well on his way to become the worthy heir to Ronaldo Nazario’s throne. The overwhelming majority of journalists around the world were convinced he was the next best player in the world. Then tragedy struck him only nine days after that day. Adriano wrote the inside story of his career as one of Brazil’s greatest players in the 21st Century.
Adriano opens up about his suffering.
Written on The Players’ Tribune, this is what Adriano told the world: “Nine days later. I was back in Europe with Inter. I got a call from home. They told me my father had died. Heart attack. I don’t really want to talk about it, but I will tell you that after that day, my love for football was never the same. He loved the game, so I loved the game. It was that simple. It was my destiny. When I played football, I played for my family.
“When I scored, I scored for my family. So when my father died, football was never the same. I was across the ocean in Italy, away from my family, and I just couldn’t cope with it. I got so depressed, man. I started drinking a lot. I didn’t really want to train. It had nothing to do with Inter. I just wanted to go home. To be honest with you, even though I scored a lot of goals in Serie A over those few years, and even though the fans really loved me, my joy was gone. It was my dad, you know? I couldn’t just flip a switch and feel like myself again.”
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