For anyone who saw Adriano playing for Inter Milan and Brazil in the mid-2000s, it was really a shock to see how abruptedly his career ended. Depression following his father’s death hit him hard, and he was only 25 when the Nerazzurri let him make his first return to Brazil.
The centre-forward still had relevant seasons in his home country until 2011, but that was it for him, with a few failed attempts after that. He always made it clear that the most important thing for him was to stay close to his people in Rio de Janeiro, regardless of being a famous footballer or not.
It turns out that as Adriano was interviewed this week by Flow Podcast, he ended up being asked about stars from Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, and his response was quite curious.
A viewer sent him a message saying he was a fan, and claiming that at the striker’s peak, he was far better than Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
“But who is this guy you spoke of, Harry Kane? What’s that?” asked Adriano.
So Igor, the presenter, didn’t understand at first that Adriano didn’t know the Manchester City and Tottenham players. And tried to explain to him.
“Haaland?”
“Yeah.”
“I do not know. What difficult name is that there? How’s that?”
“What about Harry Kane?”
“No as well. What’s that? Speak Portuguese, for God’s sake, man (laughs). Who is this dude that I don’t know?”
“They invented a controversy, in a way: at the peak, who played better, Adriano or Harry Kane? This comparison doesn’t even exist. Poor Harry Kane, it’d take him a lot of beans. Have you ever seen him running?”
“I don’t even know who this guy is. Who is this guy (laughs)?”
“Right. He’s not even in the Imperator’s radar. You really don’t know who Harry Kane is?”
“No, boy, I don’t know.”
“Man, striker of the English national team.”
“My god in heaven, man, are you going to tell me this? I didn’t even know who was playing on my side, for God’s sake.”
“And Haaland is a great striker, he doesn’t play a game without scoring a goal.”
“Really? God bless him. Who are these guys? Are they playing now? My God. I told you. I don’t see the games because of that. I don’t want to compare myself to these guys, don’t do that. No, I’m joking.”
Adriano sounded very honest in the interview, and even though it’s very hard to believe that a football-related person doesn’t know the Manchester City and Tottenham stars, it does sound like he didn’t. So that wasn’t him trying to say he’s far better than those guys.
