Adriano Returns To Football With Debut Goal For Flamengo (Video)

In the end it lasted no more than two months. No sooner had Adriano torn up his contract, seemingly out of love with football, than he was back in the headlines scoring goals.

For this past weekend the man they call The Emperor made his return to the field, clad in the red and black of boyhood heroes Flamengo in Brazil. And wouldn’t you know it, he scored. Just 46 minutes into his highly anticipated comeback match and Fla debut, Adriano got back to doing what he does best with the first goal of the Brazilian powerhouse’s second stint in Rio de Janeiro.

In front of over 71,000 fans at a heaving Maracana stadium, the new golden boy of Brazil’s best supported football club demonstrated all the qualities that once made him one of the world’s most feared strikers. Adriano was at the heart of everything good in Flamengo’s 2-1 league win over Atlético Paranaense and despite a lack of match fitness still managed to complete the 90 minutes. His goal, a weighted header from a Leonardo Moura cross, capped a fine afternoon for the Brazilian, who appears to have rediscovered his love for football back in his homeland much to the delight of Mengo’s fanatical supporters.

When putting together the obituary for Adriano’s Inter Milan career, and what appeared to be his playing career at large, we did mention that the Brazilian striker harboured a yearning ambition to return to Flamengo at some point. That it took him only a matter of weeks to get his head right and arrange the transfer however comes as a surprise to many. Then again, whose mental fragilities wouldn’t be sorted out by a bit of sun and samba?!

Here’s the video of the goal, which put Flamengo 2-0 up on their way to the 2-1 win. Welcome back Adriano!

http://video.globo.com/Portal/videos/cda/player/player.swf

Adriano, Brazilian Football, Flamengo