Brazil: Top 5 plays of the week
Brazil: Top 5 plays of the week
SAO PAULO -- Former Brazil striker Adriano is already attracting headlines for the wrong reasons as he tries to come back to football after nearly two years without playing.
Just two matches into his high-profile return with Atletico Paranaense, Adriano caused controversy by showing his disappointment at only coming on late as a substitute in a recent Copa Libertadores game against Velez Sarsfield.
Adriano, 32, had been warming up for the entire second half, but went into the match only in the 83rd minute, and after a brief stare at coach Miguel Angel Portugal.
The ex-Inter Milan forward opened his arms when he was told to get on, visibly upset he didn't get an earlier chance. After the match, he sped through reporters without making any comments.
Adriano was given a chance to play by Brazilian club Atletico after a series of off-the-field problems and left Achilles surgery kept him sidelined and brought up retirement.
Adriano played less than 10 minutes in the club's 1-0 win over The Strongest of Bolivia two weeks ago, which was his first time on the field since March 2012. He played a total of 10 minutes again against Velez Sarsfield in Argentina on Tuesday, with his only significant chance being a header that sailed over the crossbar late in the Copa Libertadores match.
Atletico Paranaense coach Portugal downplayed Adriano's disappointment, saying: "We have to take it slowly when it comes to Adriano so eventually he can start doing good things for our team.
He played a few minutes in the first match, and now a few more minutes in this second match, and it's clear that he is happy and has a lot of desire to do well. He did the best he could."
A headline at the Gazeta do Povo newspaper on Wednesday read: "Imperial Dissatisfaction," referring to the striker's "Emperor" nickname from the time he thrived with Inter Milan.
"We wanted him to get in, but it's the coach who makes these decisions," defender Manoel said. "He keeps telling us how much he wants to play and score goals, but we have to respect the coach."
Adriano recently admitted it might be a while before he regains his top form, but said he was still hopeful of returning to his glory days and even playing for Brazil at the World Cup at home.
Ronaldo, who successfully came back to Brazil's national team after a long period without playing, recently said Adriano can also make it happen.
"It's difficult after all this time without playing," his former Brazil teammate said recently. "But it's up to him to work hard and show on the field what he can do."
Soccer Hot News
Hernandez: Comment ´nothing to do with RVP´
Manchester United forward Javier Hernandez has refuted claims he delivered a social-media jibe at team-mate Robin van Persie.
Van Persie was quoted blaming his team-mates for a lack of space after their 2-0 loss to Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League in mid-week.
The Mexico international posted a message on photo-sharing app Instagram that read, “Without your team-mates you can’t be somebody in football, always be thankful.”
But Hernandez used another social networking tool, Twitter, to banish speculation the post was directed at his Dutch team-mate.
“Before I go to sleep, I need to put this cause things get a little out of context…” Hernandez said.
“Why do the press always take my comments out of context, my comment on Instagram had nothing to do with RVP. We are great teammates working for the same goal, the TEAM! & Cause the team isn’t doing as well as we’d like everyone just wants to make everything look like a bad thing!”
Van Persie’s post-match comments sparked plenty of furore, including from former United midfielder Johnny Giles who labelled the goalscorer a ‘prat’.
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