#2 Adriano
When Adriano first broke into the footballing limelight, he was believed to be the heir apparent to the great Brazilian striker Ronaldo. The striker possessed great skill on the ball, had very good close control, could get past the most seasoned of defenders with ease and most importantly knew where the back of the net was.
Having caught numerous eyes during his time at Flamengo, the former Brazilian international was snapped up by the then formidable Inter Milan in the summer of 2001. However, with a rich plethora of talent already available at the San Siro, Adriano spent three seasons on loan which included one year at Fiorentino and three years at Parma, where he further enhanced his reputation.
When he returned to the Inter set up in January of 2004, there was no denying the fact that he was amongst the best in the business. He scored goals for fun, as he found the back of the net 28 times across all competitions in the 2004-05 season and also became a mainstay with the Brazilian national team.
With the player still relatively young, a lot was expected of him, especially with the FIFA World Cup 2016 approaching. However, what the fans of Inter and the Brazilian national team were meted out was simply disappointment as Adriano’s troubled personal life came to the fore.
He was reprimanded regularly by the Nerazzurri hierarchy for being disinterested about playing football and his partying habit proved to be detrimental to his career as he was soon benched by both club and country for his indiscipline.
Adriano’s career has now become a lesson every young footballer is taught for it was his off the field antics that truly made the once world beater seem like another average footballer in a matter of months.
