
Adriano, once considered the successor to Ronaldo, has claimed, ‘I’m obsessed with wasting my life. I'm fine like this, in frantic waste. I enjoy this stigma.’
Now aged 42, he made his full international debut for Brazil at 18 and led the Selecao to the 2004 Copa America. He finished in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or that year and the year after that. Between 2003 and 2007 he had four prolific seasons with Parma and Inter Milan.
Adriano, who FourFourTwo named as the 32nd best Brazilian footballer of all-time, also immortalised himself into video game folklore thanks a 99-shot power attribute he was given in the popular video game Pro Evolution Soccer which he co-starred on the front cover with John Terry. But life today seems far removed from this glory.