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Playing football at a professional level is no walk in the park. It takes an incredible amount of hard work, self-control, determination and tenacity. To play against the best in the business, one needs to have a certain amount of discipline.
Of course, playing football at the highest level also comes with a lot of money in terms of salary and other sources like sponsorship and endorsement deals. When someone has that kind of income, it is easy to lose a bit of focus. But staying focused is not impossible either.
Look at Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, for instance. Both players have been incredibly good for close to a decade and a half. They've also been two of the most popular sporting personalities on the planet. They are great examples of how greatness is achieved by keeping distractions at bay.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five footballers who wasted their talent.
#5 Adriano
The Nerazzurri lovingly called Adriano L’Imperatore (The Emperor). They were certain they had found the next big thing in Brazilian football and there was adequate evidence to substantiate the same.
He had all the skills in his kitty. Adriano was tall, quick and blessed with incredible dribbling abilities. He also packed a dynamite of a left-foot strike and was one of the most intimidating strikers around in the 2004-05 season. He scored 28 goals and provided five assists in 42 appearances across all competitions for Inter Milan that term.
Adriano's father, Almir, had played a huge role in helping him escape the poverty of his favela and become a professional footballer. His death in late 2004 saw Adriano lose his grip on life. He admitted that his dad's death began his downward spiral.
“My dad always supported me. He liked to watch me play.”
“Without him I started to drown all my problems in alcohol. I was drinking heavily and couldn’t not go out.”
Inter Milan weren't ready to give up on him just yet and despite the dwindling returns, he continued to be at the club until 2009. He then rescinded his contract and said he was quitting football at the age of 27. But he returned to Brazil and joined his former club Flamengo.
He played for AS Roma, Corinthians, Atletico Paranense and Miami United but never really hit the heights he was expected to when he first broke onto the scene.
#4 Anderson
In hindsight, it seems ironic that Anderson said this in 2011:
“If I want to I can be a great player.”
Going by the way his career spiraled following his successful stint with Manchester United, it certainly looks like Anderson just didn't want to. When Sir Alex Ferguson signed Anderson from Porto in 2007 for €19 million, he was a promising young midfield dynamo.
He had all the qualities to make it to the top but the Brazilian seemed unwilling to put too much work in. He started to get slated for his work ethic and intelligence both on and off the pitch.
Anderson spent eight years at Manchester United and left the club under Louis van Gaal. However, he had become a non-entity by then. He was a far cry from the player who played a starring role in Manchester United's Champions League triumph in the 2007-08 season.
Anderson had the skillset but his mentality did him in. After leaving United, he returned to Brazil with Internacional but he hadn't broken up with his habits even then. He announced his retirement in September 2020 at the age of 32 after a couple of seasons with TFF First League side Adana Demirspor.
#3 Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo Quaresma was once hailed as the greatest young talent that Portugal had produced. He was so good at the time that he was seen as a more naturally talented player than Cristiano Ronaldo. While that may sound hyperbolic, football fans who were around at the time will tell you that it is nothing but the truth.
Quaresma had a skillset replete with all the trickery and technical mastery that's associated with world-class wingers. He could nonchalantly play pin-point outside-of-the-foot passes, which were also known as trivela. Quaresma was also a master of the rabona pass.
While Ronaldo was making a name for himself at Manchester United, Quaresma had joined Barcelona from Sporting Lisbon. However, he had a falling out with then Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and did not exactly cover himself in glory with his performances either. Quaresma returned to Portugal with FC Porto.
The same story unfolded as Quaresma joined Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan side. Speaking about Quaresma, Mourinho once said:
“He is a great talent, but the joy I have at seeing the way Ibrahimovic works for and with the team I do not yet have with Quaresma. He will have to learn, otherwise he won’t play.”
Mourinho couldn't be faulted because Quaresma was picked as the worst player in Serie A in 2008, also known as the Bibone d’Oro award. He has since had a journeyman career and even had a loan spell at Chelsea. Quaresma currently plies his trade for Primeira Liga outfit Vitória Guimarães.
Even though his club career has been disappointing on all levels, Quaresma won the Euros with Portugal in 2016.
#2 Antonio Cassano
Antonio Cassano, also known as Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia ("the jewel of Old Bari"), was an extremely exciting young prospect when he first broke onto the scene. He moved to AS Roma from his childhood club Bari in 2001 and won the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year Award in 2001 and 2003.
Cassano, however, had some temper problems and had clashes with Giallorossi legend Francesco Totti and Roma manager Fabio Capello. In 2006, he copped the biggest move of his career and joined Real Madrid. However, things didn't work out at all due to his poor work ethic and behaviour.
He was sent on loan in the 2007-08 season and found form again. The move was made permanent the subsequent year. In the 2008-09 season, Cassano scored 15 goals and provided 17 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions. It looked like he was getting back to his best.
But it was the final time he showed form of that kind and though he joined AC Milan in 2011, he could never hit the heights he was expected to. In his autobiography, he wrote:
"In Madrid, I had a friend who was a hotel waiter. His job was to bring me three or four pastries after I had sex. He would bring the pastries up the stairs, I would escort the woman to him and we would make an exchange: he would take the girl and I would take the pastries. Sex and then food, a perfect night."
#1 Mario Balotelli
The extremely flamboyant and divisive Mario Balotelli became a slave to his bad habits. Now 30-years-old, it doesn't look like the Italian international will be able to revive his career. The downward spiral has been one of epic proportions.
After playing for clubs like Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan and Liverpool during his best years, Balotelli currently plays for Turkish side Adana Demirspor. When he first broke onto the scene, he was a skilful striker who could pull off the incredible with a straight face.
But his on-field antics were often overshadowed by his shenanigans away from it. He has been slammed for being unprofessional at almost every club he has been at. Balotelli had extremely successful stints at Inter Milan and Manchester City.
But both clubs offloaded him when they decided they couldn't tolerate any more of his unruly behaviour. Since leaving Liverpool, he has played for AC Milan, Nice, Marseille, Brescia and Monza. That shows the steady decline that Balotelli has been on.
'Super Mario' was one of the superstars of the game when he led Italy to the final of Euro 2012. He was just 21 at the time. Just nine years later, he has been labelled a colossal disappointment.
