It’s not every day that a high-profile athlete that is still in the prime of his career and makes millions of dollars a year for a top quality team just walks away from the game on account of personal reasons, but that’s what troubled Brazilian striker Adriano did on Thursday, declaring that “at least temporarily” he’s quitting soccer because he’s simply “lost the joy of playing.”
With reports out of Rio have suggested that the reason behind the stunning decision has been an ongoing depression that the 27-year-old has been going through since a breakup with an ex-girlfriend, Adriano was quick to dispel that and other rumors, saying “I am not ill. Adriano is not dead. I am not going to any hospital. I will try to restart, try to rediscover” the love for the game.
But it doesn’t look like he’ll be doing that for Inter Milan or another Italian team any time soon, as he lamented the “big pressure” that he’s been under since being signed by the Serie A side from home team Flamengo when he was 18. While he said he doesn’t have anything against the club, he was clear that he was just unhappy living there, saying flat-out “I don’t want to return to Italy. I want to live in peace here in Brazil.”