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Miami United's signing of Adriano is a perfect way to cap an imperfect career

Buda Mendes/STF / LatinContent WO / Getty

Back at the 2006 World Cup, Adriano, then 23 years old, achieved what all kids from Brazil's favelas dream of: scoring in the beautiful game's most prestigious competition.

One quarter of Brazil's "magic quartet," Adriano, also known as "The Emperor" collected a pass from Ronaldo, took two touches with his left foot, and slid the ball past Australian 'keeper Mark Schwarzer. The goal was quality. The celebration was better.

100 Great Brazilian Goals: #83 Adriano (Germany 2006) - Streamable

With so much promise surrounding Adriano at the time, there was no indication that the tournament would be the climax of his career. What ensued after Brazil was bounced in the quarterfinals was, simply put, a spectacular fall from grace, featuring headlines that are associated with gangsters rather than footballers.

Months after the 2006 World Cup, Adriano was told by Sinisa Mihajlovic, then his teammate at Inter Milan, to lose weight. He was subsequently dropped from Brazil's squad, as Dunga encouraged him to "change his ways."

In 2007, Adriano was also dropped by Inter, with Roberto Mancini punishing him for missing training because of a hangover stemming from his 24th birthday. He was eventually sent to Sao Paulo on unpaid leave to attend a physiotherapy and physiology sporting recovery centre, but his time there was marred by a headbutt on an opposing full-back, another late arrival to a training session, and an altercation with a photographer.

By 2009, Adriano was, according to Mancini, "three or four kilos overweight." After he failed to return to Inter from international duty, a report surfaced that alleged he attempted to take his own life after a relationship break-up. Other reports suggested he was arrested after a party, kidnapped, or might be dead.

Once his whereabouts were discovered, there were allegations he attended a party hosted by a local drug dealer "with two pistols in his belt, smoking marijuana and drinking relentlessly." Widespread descriptions of his battle with depression were published.

After claiming that he had "lost the joy of playing" and wanted to be closer to his friends in Brazil, Inter, to no one's surprise, rescinded Adriano's contract. He eventually admitted that alcohol problems were behind his exit, saying: "I went out every night and drank whatever happened to be in front of me, wine, whisky, beer ... a lot of beer."

A new chapter at Flamengo, the club from Rio de Janeiro that plays near the Vila Cruzeiro shantytown where Adriano grew up, brought much of the same. He was removed from the team when he began drinking again, with a club director telling a local radio station: "When he starts drinking, he can't stop."

Just when it seemed like things couldn't get worse for Adriano, his reputation hit a new low.

After missing out on Brazil's squad for the 2010 World Cup, photos were published in O Dia, a Brazilian daily, showing Adriano hoisting a rifle and throwing up gang signs affiliated with Comando Vermelho, Rio de Janeiro's biggest gang.

Adriano then joined AS Roma, only to have his contract torn up a month later. He then put pen to paper on a deal with Corinthians, only to have his contract terminated one year later after he missed training and refused to let the club doctor weigh him. "Only a mad man would sign him now," Neto, a former player of the team, said. A return to Flamengo was ended before he could even tally one appearance, and his most recent spell, at Atletico Paranaense, finished with a total of four appearances and two missed training sessions.

It is because of his spectacular fall from grace that Miami United FC's signing of Adriano, which was announced last week, is perfect.

In a universe where footballers are expected to be role models that cater to a warped view of how society functions, Adriano can finally represent a club with no expectations of what he should and shouldn't do.

"His mother and family want him far from Brazil and all the distractions there and he thought Miami United would be a good fit for him when we made the offer," Roberto Sacco, Miami United's president, told The Telegraph. "It is far from distraction and pressure - here there is no pressure. He has already lost a lot of weight - around 18lb - so he's ready to play. We're really excited to see him play.

"He was one of the best No. 9s in the world and, without pressure he can do a great job for Miami United and then go to MLS. He wants to go there. He is still young, he is only 33 and if he plays at 25 percent of how he was, he can play in MLS with his blind eyes."

Adriano, emblematic of the behaviour that defines Brazil's favelas, lives life on nobody's terms but his own. His struggles with weight, punctuality, alcohol, depression, and the law are what have endeared him to supporters across the planet, tearing apart the perceived degrees of separation that exist between a professional footballer and society's bottom-dwellers, and serving as a reminder of the imperfections in all of us.

At Miami United, Adriano can be himself. There are no expectations for a 33-year-old whose career has already been written off, and who will be taking the pitch in the fourth division of American football. He can drink, or he can choose not to drink. He can party in South Beach, or he can choose not to party in South Beach. He can be happy.

If it doesn't work out for him, so be it.

Unlike his choices in life, Adriano's move to Miami United is, in its own way, perfect.

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