So your favourite Churrascaria King, Adriano, wants you to know that he never used drugs in his life and is annoyed that people are throwing all these unjust accusations at him! Relax, mano… tudo é bom. You know that Senhor Mourinho still keeps your file at home and occasionally sifts through it when he’s not on Skype with Z-Ibracadabra!
“I’ve never used drugs – nothing was ever proven. Suddenly, because I live in the slum, people associate me with it,” he said.
His fiancee, Joana Machado, who made a big fuss about finding him with other Flamengo players in the slum in the wee hours of the morning, was also involved in her own controversy known in Brazil as “episódio Chatuba”. Said Adri : “She was not wrong and she did not assault me. If the person likes you, she wants to take care of you. She was afraid because I did not arrive on the time that was determined.”
It’s time to celebrate this week’s Sunday Señor but seeing that it’s Carnival, Valentine’s and Lunar New Year weekend (for all our amigos chinos!)… we’re putting el futbol aside to share some fantastic photos from Brasil and parts of Europe! Yes, futbolitas, it’s Carnaval weekend and even Cafu joined the battle of the samba schools!! Contrary to popular belief, it’s never always about Adriano’s girlfriends… there was even a Ronaldo Lima float! Não se surpreenda. Sit back and enjoy.
via Gettyimages, Reuters
So much emotion… havia tanto amor! Even King Churrascaria himself, Adriano, had to choke back his tears after the fans came out to show their support following Flamengo’s win of the Brasileirao Title on Sunday. “I can hardly believe it…I’m remembering all I went through, I don’t even have strength left to celebrate,” said Adriano. “Really, this is a dream, to be a champion again and, above all, to be happy.”
Flamengo came back from a goal down to defeat Gremio 2-1 with goals from David and Ronaldo Angelim. It took 17 years, pessoas... that’s older than Iker Munain’s entire age.
More than 100,000 fans went crazy at the Maracana – and truth be told, they stole the show. Mengao are very lucky to have some of the most creative fans. These people should be on Project Runway or something. From Barack’s Bro to a dude who looks like a cross between P.Diddy and Flava Flav, they pulled out all the stops to make the finale an occasion to remember!!
Anyway, Adriano has not ruled out a return to Europe next season but he declared that his family has been instrumental in his success at Flamengo. “I’ve had a lot of proposals, I’m not going to lie to anyone about that,” he said. “But, certainly, what’s important to me today and was always in first place is my happiness. Everything I do from here on will be well thought through,” he said.
So apparently Barbecue King, Adriano is very much in love with his current girlfriend, Cássia Menega (of course you remember Joana Machado) and plans to marry her. According to his friend David Brazil, who is the country’s most “famous event promoter”, he is satisfied with his current stint at Flamengo and ‘everything is going well’ for him.
Well, that’s what he told Machado as well before breaking up with her! But if he’s going through with it, good for Adriano. Still, that doesn’t mean he can still play for the seleção. Ele não pode correr! He can’t even run!
It’s Day Three of the festa do samba and while no one brought out the zany birthday cakes yet, Saint Kaka thinks BBQ king Adriano is a joke! Also, poor manos had to do field exercises in the rain again as you can tell from the case of flat hair syndrome.
“I think Brazil’s preparation is different in 2010 compared to 2006. We have peace of mind to train and are prepared to perform well in the World Cup,” he said, referring to that unfortunate Weggis training camp in Switzerland, where even Beyoncé should’ve performed!
Adriano, on the other hand, has told members of the press to ‘give him a little respect’. Oh, desculpe BBQ King! “Dunga always defends me and I know that many things (that are written) are not true. I ask for a little more love. I came here to be happy. I need that respect. I am here to represent Brazil and to regain my happiness,” he implored.
“It’s hard to send my son to school and hear (something bad). Be careful (when you) write certain things in the newspaper because it hurts too much. There’s always a person playing ‘lip service’ to my mother on the street. I have my personal life like everyone else. If these things (said about him) were true, I would not be the league’s top scorer and one of the in best competition. That really hurts. Even in the selection.”
Meanwhile, they’ve uncovered Elano’s Twin in Granja Comary – Sidimar from the U-17 squad! What on Earth… the young defender looks like he can be tipo’s older brother. “My mates call me Elano too (laughing),” said Sidimar, who was pleased with the comparison. The U-17 boys will be competing in Nigeria in the Sub17 World Cup and all of them have been getting front row seats at their seniors’ training sessions. We need that ice-cream truck, pronto!
Bom dia and welcome to Day 2 of the Brazilian Bootcamp! Both our coach and goalkeeper are enjoying a Soul Sista moment in the photo above (Dunga : “Gurrrl, you got strength!” The Cesar : “Adriano ain’t got nuthin’ on me, lady. Uh-uh.” ) And that’s because Juliolita had a field day during yesterday’s training - saving almost everyone’s shots at goal and getting teased in the process.
Barbecue King, Adriano was really pumped up and put many goals past Julio, but when his former Flamengo mano saved it, there were plenty of jokes. “Are you kicking with all your strength? What do you want? You (Adriano) are always like popcorn to me!” yelled The Cesar. Later, Dunga made the tipos shoot from a further distance, and this time, many of them missed the target. “For those who do not know, the goal of this sport is to score!” joked Julio again.
Meanwhile, Kaka looks like he just saw an ice-cream truck pulling up into the driveway. Unfortunately, Miranda knows that the best person to ask for Cadbury hot chocolate is still Adriano. Damn, tipo brought the whole kitchen! And since it rained, everyone had to warm down quickly and throw on their windbreakers. They had to do their interviews in the rain… and damn, we hate it when that happens! Still, we spotted our worried looking friend, Rodrigo, wearing a hoodie and windbreaker in the clips below. Você olhar engraçado, tio!
Tudo bem, people?! Welcome to Day 1 of the Selecao bootcamp…. a staple here at Futbolita. And in true spirit, we just did a thorough assessment of the selecao’s arrival at Granja Comary with our Brazilian amiga here, Ana. Gata wants to marry Zagallo but he’s old enough to be her grandfather, so she has now shifted all thoughts to Julio Cesar. On the other hand, Fabulouso is looking sleek in white… he needs to pose for a furniture catalogue agora!
So manos were sent for gym conditioning (to “maintain muscles and detoxification”) ,with Senor Pablo Paixão. This was accompanied by light field training and running exercises. Nilmar is deep in concentration… (while el amigo Lucas is presumably talking about English tea) so do not disturb!
Of course, playing at a high altitude is another issue for selecao. As such, the team’s doctor Jose Luis Runco has confiscated the potato chips from Adriano’s room. “I recommend a light diet for the team – with fruit and carbohydrates. Our position in relation to games at altitude does not change and I hope that FIFA changes it,” he said. “It is advisable to practice the sport at (a suitable) altitude because we run a risk of compromising the life of a human being.”
Added the excited André Santos. : “The secret is to adapt as quickly as possible to play a great game.”
Fotos de R.Ribeiro
via Globo
Ah, flip flops... you can’t get any more Brazilian than that! De qualquer maneira, there’s been some confusion over at the Flamengo training camp. Apparently, their black slippers are so similiar that everyone ends up wearing the wrong pair after training. The only way around the problem is to place a sticker with players’ shirt number on each pair. That way, everyone goes home happy. Seriously though… did they all decide one day to go shopping for the exact same pair of black slippers?
Interestingly, Adriano doesn’t need stickers to label his flip-flops – his is the only white pair in the whole bunch!
So it’s Day 2 of the Soldados Bootcamp and they’re already bullying Robinho! Anyway, the manos did field work yesterday while Daniel Alves, Luisão, Ramires and Elano were immediately sent to the gym upon arrival. Muito grave, indeed!
For training, Dopey divided the squad into two teams- Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lúcio, Miranda, André Santos; Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Julio Baptista, Kaká; Robinho and Luís Fabiano formed one side while Victor, Cristian, Gérson, Juan and Filipe; Sandro, Lucas, João Pedro and Wellington; Nilmar and Adriano made up the other. Crowds formed outside Granja Comary to watch the selecao in action and the U-17 squad also trained with them in preparation for the Copa Sendai in Japan.
These bombshells will board a flight to Rosario at 8pm later tonight and arrive at the Rosario International Airport around midnight. They’d better distribute packets of oreo and milk or else…..
Fotos de AP, Reuters & R.Ribeiro
Ah, an exciting week of international futbol is finally upon us as our hombres prepare to face The Dona’s Argentina on Saturday! Yesterday, the Brazilian Bombshells eagerly assembled at the Tom Jobin International Airport (in Rio) before proceeding to Granja Comary. On arrival, everyone received a welcome snack before heading to bed. Yes, it’s beginning to sound a lot like pre-school…
As you can probably tell, manos were excited to meet each another again (Julio Baptista and Lucas both look thrilled). Barbecue King, Adriano, was also delighted to be back with the selecao but admitted that he "only personally knows Nilmar and Victor" from Dopey’s current squad. Uh, no problem. He’ll make friends just as long as he doesn’t locate an All-You-Can-Eat buffet spread in Rosario.
The players also attended a commercial event for Gillette last night and Julio Cesar, Felipe Melo, Adriano, Juan and Lucio were on hand to test their new series of razors. "Drawing with Argentina will be good enough. If we win, it will have to be with a beard, hair and moustache," joked Julio Cesar as he tried to shave( seriously???). But the worst line had to come from Adriano who was asked by former model, Monique Evans, if any of his girlfriends had ever shaved him. "Not yet, but if you want to…" he replied, laughing. Have you seen Monique Evans?
via Globo
Photo via globo
Adriano aka the Favela and Barbecue King has been wearing jerseys with the numbers 29, 27, 92, 90 and 100 since his return to Flamengo in April. But from today, he’ll finally get to wear the all-important number 9 shirt after an Internet poll was conducted among the club’s fans. Well, he can wear #9 at Flamengo but the prospect of wearing the same shirt under Dunga… impossível!
In other news, Flamengo and Corinthians are slated to play a friendly match in Palestine in September as a peace initiative promoted by the Brazilian government. Well, you know Lula. All he needs to do is to send a Brazilian player to various countries and everything will be solved. Oh, if only it were that easy!
Barbecue king, Adriano, celebrated his ‘return’ to football by scoring in Flamengo’s 2-1 victory over Atlético-PR yesterday. To be quite honest, even our 2 year old cousin would’ve been able to score a goal like that as well. The commentator went delirious – and out of breath. If Adriano hadn’t converted, it would’ve been a disaster.
Anyway, he still has time to practise his shots. After all, he ain’t part of Dopey’s Brasil squad that will meet later today.
In other games, Paulo Henrique Lima scored goal for Santos as they thrashed Corinthians 3-1. And finally, three-time defending champions Sao Paulo enjoyed their first win of the tournament by hammering Cruzeiro 3-0 at the Morumbi. Ah – about time, eh tipos?!
Adriano aka Favela StrikeForce has announced his desire to play for the selecao – if Dopey and Jorginho decide to call him up again.
“For friendship’s sake, I hope that Ronaldo gets called up again. The Brazilian selection is important, but I have to work hard to return. I already spoke to Jorginho and Dunga. I will do everything to make that happen as soon as possible. The doors are still open,” he said.
Who is he kidding? Here’s what we really think!
How nice of Julio César to remember his friend, Adriano, during such a glorious occasion! We almost feel bad for making fun of the Fallen Striker.
As soon as the Inter-Siena match ended yesterday (a nice 3-0 scoreline in favour of the Serie A champs) the players did a victory parade around the San Siro. Mancini and Balotelli also wore “Adriano” shirts, which they must’ve taken from the storeroom when no one was looking. And you know Uncle Fester Galliani tried to gatecrash the event but was promptly stopped at the door.
Anyway, when he wasn’t sulking or getting wasted at a samba party, Adriano had his rare moments of brilliance. And although many at Inter may not want to acknowledge it, his goals helped their Serie A campaign this season, especially the one against Milan in February. So the tribute was certainly a nice welcome.
Yes, that photo best describes our thoughts on Adriano at present. So many questions! What has happened to the man in the last few months? And more importantly, why is he enjoying life on the Football Trainwreck path? If wanted to wear Red and Black stripes so badly, he was obviously playing for the wrong club in Milan!
Anyway, Adriano was officially unveiled by Flamengo yesterday and a party – likened to a 4-year-old’s birthday bash – was thrown to welcome him back. He also joins the likes of Fred and Ronaldo in returning to the Brazilian league.
“I always liked to laugh, to play, for fun. That was not happening in Italy. And as soon as I returned to Brazil, it did not take long for me to go back to being happy,” he said at the press conference. “I came to (the place) where I was created. I returned to Brazil to try to regain my happiness. I always wanted to return to Flamengo and there’s nothing better than being with those we like.”
“My grandmother is the one responsible for me being here today. She and my family. When I joined the club today, I felt like I was 7 again. It was the age I started playing here,” he added.
That really is a photo of Adriano on a scooter taken in Rio three years ago. And as we expected, the Emperor of Samba Dancers will be formally announced as a Flamengo player today.
The club’s board has promised a “big party for the arrival of the player” and the marketing department has even arranged activities such as (selling) commemorative shirts, among other products. At about 4pm, Adriano will meet the fans in the stadium – akin to the Ronaldo/Corinthians “introduction party” last year. They had better invite the Vila Isabel or Grande Rio samba schools to the party or all hell will break loose!
Surprisingly, Flamengo’s president, Marcio Braga, seems a little apprehensive about the whole thing, saying news of the striker’s arrival had been more of a ’surprise’ than anything else. However, a “new contract with a sponsor” has ensured that Adriano’s expenses and salary will be covered sufficiently. Ah, how convenient indeed!
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