Adriano Staying in Brazil (For a While)

After more than a season of being crap on the pitch and having his life turn into crap off it, Inter Milan’s Adriano finally has what he wanted — he’s going to join São Paulo on a six-month loan, which is pretty much the best thing for everyone concerned.

In the last 15-plus months, the Brazilian’s partying has become the stuff of legend, as has his gut, and his lumbering travels around the pitch, on the few occasions he got on it. Off the pitch, his life has be even more difficult — he lost his father and got dumped by his girlfriend practically simultaneously, and has apparently been dealing with a severe depression, albeit without seeking any treatment, and rarely mentioning it except when he was criticized in the press. (Not, perhaps, the best way to get sympathy from the public or your club, particularly when you’re missing training because you’ve been too busy partying).

During a horrible first two months of the 2007-2008 season with Inter, despite the decision of his mom moved to Milan to try to help sort him out, Adriano struggled mightily to make the bench, and seemed to alternate between whining in the papers about how unjustly he was being treated and lamenting his own fragile emotional state. And, finally, Inter did the right thing and sent him to Brazil to get treatment, both mentally and physically: For about the past month, he’s been at his old club, São Paulo, training and getting counseling, and is apparently regaining his fitness and smiling nonstop, both of which are good things.

An Inter rep traveled to Brazil last week to check on his status and, now officially happy with how things are going, the club have reportedly agreed to let the striker stay with São Paulo until the end of the Italian season. While there, he’ll be available for the Copa Libertadores and theoretically see action — something he’s not had in ages at Inter — and, most importantly, regain his confidence. As hard as it is to believe, the Brazilian is still only 25 — if his form comes back, he’s still got a large chunk of his career ahead of him.

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