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He was breathtakingly brilliant. With a left-foot that could unleash serious rockets to justify his 99 shot power on PES 6 but also a godly first touch and ability to dribble, Adriano was truly unplayable.
The streets won't forget 2004-2006 Adriano :fire:
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 1, 2020
Terrifying. pic.twitter.com/EjfNUD8bpE
He really ought to have been the heir to Ronaldo Nazario's throne but although he scored 27 goals in 48 appearances for the Brazil national team, Adriano will always been seen as a high-profile example of a player not realising his potential.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a teammate of his at the Nerazzurri, rates 'The Emperor' incredibly highly and says he had everything in terms of attributes.
He told SPORTbible: "I played with great champions. I played with players that were already...wow. I played with players that I saw were a talent and became...wow, but the one I felt could do it longer, and he didn't do it, was Adriano when I was at Inter. He could shoot from every angle, nobody could tackle him, nobody could take the ball, he was a pure animal."
Persistent off the field problems and his unhealthy lifestyle culminated in a huge fall from grace for Adriano.
After the tragic death of his father, he turned to drugs and alcohol and the regular partying ultimately killed his career.
"Only I know how much I suffered," Adriano told R7 in Brazil.
"The death of my father left a huge hole. I felt alone and I isolated myself when he died. I was sad and depressed in Italy, and that was when I started to drink."
He does look happy in recent Instagram photos so here's hoping Adriano is enjoying his post-football life.
Topics: Football News, Parma, Football, Adriano, Brazil, Inter Milan