Adriano: Pressure in Italy was too much for me

Troubled Inter Milan striker Adriano has announced that he is taking a break from football after he called a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

The 27-year-old said that he has ‘lost the joy of playing football’ and will ‘try to restart’.

The news comes a week after he failed to return to Milan following international duty for Brazil. His whereabouts were unknown for a number of days until it was later confirmed that the striker was at home in Brazil.

His announcement has fuelled speculation that he will not play again for Inter. He said: “I have stopped my career for a while because I have lost the joy of playing,” he said. “It could be one, two or three months. There is big pressure in Italy. I don’t want to return to Italy. I want to live in peace here in Brazil.”

He was quick to defend his club and put his discomfort down to Italy the country rather than the club itself. “I have no bad feelings for Inter,” he said.

“I just dislike living in Italy. I felt I was pressured. I felt big pressure when I was 18-years-old. A lot of people will not understand. It is a bad situation, not easy at all, but it is a choice.”

Adriano has a good goalscoring record at Inter – he has scored 48 goals in 121 performances. The 2004-05 season was arguably his best at the Milan club where he scored an impressive 28 goals in all competitions.

In 2007, Adriano was sent on unpaid leave to Brazil by Inter owner Massimo Moratti, where he was then loaned out to São Paulo until the end of the 07-08 season after which he returned to Italy.

During his time in Italy, the Brazilian is reported to have been struggling with alcoholism and a lack of professionalism. But the striker claims it is simply a loss of motivation that has led to his decision to interrupt his career.

“I am not ill,” he said. “Adriano is not dead. I am not going to any hospital. I will try to restart, try to rediscover the joy of playing. The situation has arisen because I was not happy.”