5 Brazilian players who failed to fulfil their potential

#1 Adriano

Adriano courted world attention at the start of the millennium after breaking into the Flamengo first team at the tender age of 16 years, and at 19, he started his European sojourn with a transfer to Inter Milan in 2002.

Strong, quick, good in the air, an excellent dribbler with close control and possessing a thunderous left foot, Adriano was considered the 'new Ronaldo' and was expected to hold down the Brazilian striking spot for at least a decade.

After a bright start to his Inter Milan career where he scored 42 goals from 2004 to 2005, it all went downhill for Adriano after receiving a phone call telling him that his father had passed on in Brazil.

Former Inter captain and Adriano's teammate Javier Zanetti described the incident saying he saw him cry after the phone call as his father was an inspirational figure in his life and that though Adriano continued to score goals and dedicate them to his father, the Rio de Janeiro native was suffering from emotional trauma.

The drinking started as Adriano sought to drown his sorrows in alcohol. He stopped maintaining his fitness and repeatedly turned up at training drunk. His work ethic also came into question as he was making more impact in nightclubs than on the field of play.

Inter Milan began to lose patience with the Brazilian and sent him on a number of loan spells back to Brazil. He was officially transferred to Flamengo in 2009, the club where he started his professional career and he performed decently well enough to help Flamengo win its first Brazilian Serie A title since 1992.

He returned to the Italian Serie A to play for Roma in 2010 but had his contract terminated after just seven months. He signed for Corinthians in March 2011 but was released just a year later due to his inconsistency and disinterested body language.

On the international scene, Adriano formed a fearsome partnership with Ronaldo de Lima and was widely tipped to replace Ronaldo as Brazil's next great striker. He made 48 appearances for Brazil, scoring an impressive 27 goals. He won the Copa America with Brazil in 2004, scoring a dramatic late equalizer against Argentina in the final and was the Golden Boot winner in the tournament. A year later, Adriano was also the Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner, scoring two goals in 4-1 final victory over Argentina as Brazil triumphed in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Earning the nickname L'Imperatore (the Emperor) in Italy, Adriano was seen as a combination of both Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic and was tipped to surpass both of them. At a young age, Adriano had the world at his feet, however, the death of his father, ill-discipline, fitness issues and alcoholism meant that the world was left wondering 'what if' and never able to see the best of Adriano.